Mission: Mankind
by moninoni
Summary: On their mission to defeat Andross for the first time, a "wrong turn" sends the Star Fox team to a planet inhabited by humans. The team quickly realizes Andross is doing more than wage war on Corneria...
1. Chapter 1

Intro

It was the year 2957, years after the time when humans began moving from Earth because of population growth. Humans first tried inhabiting the Moon, but it lacked all natural resources. Then they started landing on a planet that they named Jazeloone.

On Jazeloone, cities developed rapidly. Those still living on Earth slowly, but surely, lost contact with Jazeloone, but the new planet thrived independently – and successfully. It was located in a different solar system that came to be known as the Neo System, which still had other planets yet to be discovered.

Other than top-of-the-line, state-of-the-art technological advances that Jazeloone had, humans were still fairly similar to what was popular 900 years beforehand. However, schools operated solely on computers. Parents "flew" cars (called zoomers) and everything was touch-screen operated, such as opening office doors or operating security systems.

Some cultures were still valued on Jazeloone, but most had blended together. Cities were alike, and all were self-sufficient. The planet had "continents" and oceans, but travel was not very common and families only typically moved for job-related reasons.

In yet another solar system, one unknown to the humans, there was another form of intelligent life. They were anthropomorphic animals, just as civilized and advanced as the human race. They had human figures with animalistic features, such as fur and scales. These animals were born alive and developed with warm blood, including reptiles and birds. Most of these aliens were straight-up mammals; there were no fish or insects and very few amphibians and reptiles.

This solar system was called the Lylat System, and it consisted of eight planets. Corneria, fourth planet of the Lylat System, was the most populated planet. The civilians on this planet were peaceful and lived a similar lifestyle to that of the humans on Jazeloone, though neither race knew the other existed.

Andross (an ape) was once a scientist living on Corneria. He worked with dangerous chemicals and machinery, and his occupation, as well as his demonic personality, became threatening to those living in the Lylat System. The leader of the Cornerian Army, General Pepper, banished the evil Andross to the furthest planet Venom.

Later, General Pepper started to notice strange activity coming from Venom. Andross had one main goal: to take over the galaxy. He soon declared war.

He did not just influence the Lylat System, though. Jazeloone began receiving strange messages via computer and satellite from an unknown source. The humans had no idea who or what "Andross" was, and labeled the threat a mere computer virus.

When the virus made threats on the planet, however, the humans began to worry for their lives and suggested evacuating.

The idea came too late.

Andross discovered Jazeloone's location and attacked the defenseless planet.

Jazeloone was small. Everywhere on the planet cities were being destroyed. Humans were killed by jets dropping bombs and shooting missiles at their homes and buildings. People were separated by their families as they tried to escape by boarding their own ships. The humans moved as fast as they could but it was not enough. The surviving ships fled Jazeloone carrying many families, but an immense number of civilians were left behind. Those who did not reach the ships in time were left to perish.

The surviving humans traveled the galaxy until finding refuge on an even smaller planet. It was so small, in fact, that it may have been considered a moon. It was full of water and vegetation, so the humans landed and named this new planet Tesserone. The new planet started out being called a Safe Camp that would emerge to become a small town.

The humans still knew very little about Andross. They had no idea what his origin was. All they could deduce was:

He was not a computer virus, and

He was evil

As Tesserone slowly began to develop, General Pepper made plans on trying to defeat Andross. His process of elimination took place in that year of 2957, right after the massacre on Jazeloone.


	2. Chapter 2

Prologue

The invasion of Jazeloone left many kids without families. They were put in an "orphanage" on Tesserone. These kids lived in a cabin in the "town" of Tesserone. A girl named Monica Krane was among the orphans.

Monica had been 12 years old at the time of the invasion. Both her parents and two brothers were killed. However, she had one godmother who was among a group of saved retirees that was brought to the new planet. Her godmother was Lily Sue Haven, and had been the best friend of Monica's maternal grandmother. Lily Sue had been Monica's mom's godmother as well. Lily Sue was too old to care for Monica herself, but Monica was granted visiting rights on weekends to stay in Lily Sue's cottage.

Among the residents from her hometown that survived the invasion were Monica's best friends Lucy Ferns and Gwen Margo, both of whom managed to flee Jazeloone with their families. The three girls had been friends since the age of 4. Lucy and Gwen's families built new homes out of tree logs in the woods surrounding the developing town on Tesserone.

When Monica turned 16 Lucy and Gwen's fathers built them their own three-bedroom log cabin in the woods. Monica gratefully moved in with her two besties.

Their story takes place two years after they moved in. It was the year 2963, and the girls were still living in their little cabin.


	3. Chapter 3

_Bang! Bang!_

Monica's eyes flashed open at the startling sound coming from her bedroom door.

"Get up!" came Gwen's impatient voice from the hall. "You're late…again!"

Monica sleepily grumbled, "What…?"

She lifted her dirty-blond head to see her alarm clock on her nightstand reading 9:27 a.m. Now really awake, she gasped, "Crap!" and threw off her bed sheets. Monica stumbled out of bed and yanked open the bottom drawer of her dresser. After stripping from her pajamas, she pulled on a white tank top and a cheap, spandex black mini-skirt, adorning it with a blue sash she used as a belt. Finally, Monica quickly brushed her shoulder-length hair and left her bedroom. She went into the kitchen where Gwen was eating at the small, wooden breakfast table and Lucy was washing dishes in the sink.

Gwen looked up from her oatmeal when Monica entered and said, "Dude, you can't keep on forgetting about Lily Sue. I know you're not used to it but –"

"Gwen," Monica stopped her as she grabbed her purse from off the counter beside the kitchen sink. "I'm sorry, okay? I don't _mean_ to keep forgetting to do her errands."

Lucy, without looking up from her washing, said to Monica, "You gonna eat breakfast?"

Monica, hastily checking to make sure she had money in her purse, impatiently said, "What?" even though she really did hear Lucy.

"Make sure you eat something," Lucy said. "At least grab some fruit or something."

Monica grabbed a banana from the fruit basket in the middle of the breakfast table. She called out, "Bye!" as she left through the front door in the kitchen.

The girls' cabin was really located in a large, open area out in the woods. The opening was surrounded by trees and paths the girls had created to make navigating easier.

As Monica walked barefoot toward the trees ahead of her, she pealed her banana and started munching. She thoughtfully gazed up at the clear blue sky, feeling the warm air embrace her. The wind played with her hair as the grass tickled the bottoms of her feet.

Once she reached the trees, Monica carefully stepped around stones and twigs, scraping her feet on roots as she treaded down the path that reached a small dirt road leading into town. Monica had a short walking distance to the outdoor market.

Tesserone's town resembled one out of an old western movie. Almost all of the buildings were built out of wooden logs. A lot of the food was bought outside, fresh and organic. Monica filled up a basket with peaches (Lily Sue's favorite), pears, mangos, plums and more bananas. She also added some carrots, potatoes and cabbage. The only meat really found on Tesserone was fish, making all residents pescatarians.

After grocery shopping, Monica headed to a different section of the woods where Lily Sue's cottage was located by a pond. Monica walked in without knocking, calling out, "Hellooo? Lily Sue? I'm here. Listen, I'm sorry I took so long, I –"

"Monnie, is that you?" came a hoarse, high-pitched voice. Lily Sue slowly hobbled out of her bedroom on her little wooden cane. She squinted behind her rectangular specs as she looked up at Monica.

"Yeah, Lily Sue, it's me," Monica said.

"What?" the old lady quaked.

"I said '_yeah_,'" Monica said with great diction.

"Oh!" smiled Lily Sue, her dark wrinkled face beaming. "Glad to see you, Monnie-Nonnie! Would you like some tea?"

"I'll get it," Monica said quickly, walking over the stove in the kitchen and pulling out a tea kettle from the cabinet.

By the time Lily Sue got to the kitchen Monica was waiting for the kettle to whistle.

Lily Sue sat down at her own table and watched her goddaughter being putting the fruit she had purchased into the sink to rinse them.

"You certainly know your way around the kitchen," Lily Sue observed.

Monica laughed from the sink. "Well, I should; I practically live here."

"So did my husband," Lily Sue said, "and he still made me prepare his drink."

Monica placed the clean fruit in the refrigerator. "That was back when you were still able to beat my grandmother at soccer."

Lily Sue grinned in spite of herself. "I could always beat that old coot's toosh at anything that involved running."

"Right…" Monica said, pulling out two teacups from another cabinet. When she was done mixing the tea, she handed a cup to Lily Sue.

Lily Sue took a sip and set her cup down with shaky hands. "So…how are Laverne and Gladys?"

"Lucy and Gwen," Monica corrected ("Oh, yes," Lily Sue quickly said). "They're fine."

"What are you girls going to do today?"

"Just chill…we're good at that," Monica laughed.

Before the old lady could ask another question, the phone rang from the living room. Monica ran to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Monica?" came Lucy's voice.

"Yeah?"  
>"Hey, listen…the washing machine sprung another leak."<p>

Monica groaned, "Ugh, you're kidding!"

"No, as funny as that is, I'm not."

"Lucy," Monica said in a warning tone.

"Sorry," Lucy said flatly. In the background, Gwen could be heard yelling, "Get a mop!"

"How bad is it?" Monica asked.

"Pretty bad," Lucy replied. "It's all over the laundry room floor. I need you back here to help Gwen so I can go grab my dad. Will Lily Sue be okay?"

"Sure, she'll understand."

"Okay…please hurry."

"I know. See ya." Monica hung up the phone and returned to the kitchen.

Lily Sue looked up from her teacup.

Monica sighed, "Our washing machine is about to flood our home, so I need to go help my friends."

Lily Sue smiled. "You're a good friend, Monnie. Go help them. I'll see you soon."

"Okay…" Monica headed to the living room. "Bye, Lily Sue!"

"I love you!" called her godmother.

"Love you too," Monica hollered.

She grabbed her purse and left.

...

Monica sat outside the front door of her cabin that night, watching the stars come out. On Jazeloone the city lights would make the visibility of stars almost impossible, but no matter where she was on Tesserone, Monica could always see stars at night. It was a small appreciation she had for the new planet…but it was only one of a few.

Monica's solitude was interrupted by the door opening up behind her. Lucy's dad Riley Ferns came out, stepping around Monica, saying, "Well, that's as good as it's going to get tonight, girls. I'm sorry you don't have a good washing machine."

Lucy sighed as she stood in the doorway behind Monica. "It's okay. Thanks, Dad."

Riley kissed his daughter's forehead, gave a respectful nod toward Monica and began his trek home.

Lucy sat down beside Monica, looking thoughtfully at her friend. "Whatcha thinkin'?"

"Nuttin'," replied Monica. "Just day-dreaming."

Lucy nodded. "You've been doing a lot of that lately…are you _that_ depressed?"

Monica frowned at her. "Who said I was depressed? I'm alright…"

Lucy rolled her eyes. All three of the girls looked distinctively different. Lucy was the tallest, with dark black hair that she shared with both parents and her two younger sisters. Her eyes were dark, too – practically violet, and she was fair-skinned. Gwen and her siblings were all redheads, with pale but freckled arms and legs. Gwen was also the shortest of her friends – with the biggest chest – and sported big blue eyes. Monica used to have really blond hair but it had darkened to a dirty blond as she had gotten older. She was thin and slender, tanned, and had green eyes.

Lily Sue always told her she looked just like her mom.

Monica always knew how beautiful her friends were, even if they did not see it themselves. She almost hated her dear friend Lucy for it as her piercing violet eyes bore into Monica.

"You haven't been talking much lately," Lucy said. "And don't take this the wrong way or anything, but Gwen and I were talking after you left this morning, and we think there's something wrong and you're just not telling us."

Monica said, "Nothing's wrong…I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Like what?" Lucy pressed.

Monica shrugged. "Like…our money problems, our defected household appliances, taking care of Lily Sue, how exactly we plan to get through all this crap –"

"We're going to be _fine_," Lucy said in an exasperated tone.

Just then, the door opened up again, and Gwen stuck her messy redhead outside. She looked annoyed. "Well, the fun continues. Now the faucet in the bathroom isn't running again."

"Did you hit it?" asked Lucy.

"_Yes_…"

"Did you hit it with the hammer?"

Gwen blinked. "No, hold on…"

When she had disappeared, Monica raised an eyebrow at Lucy and smirked, "What were you saying, Lucille? Something about us being fine?"

Lucy groaned, "Ugh, yes, Monica, we _will_ be fine! Something good will turn up eventually."

With that the raven-head got to her feet and retreated into the house.

Monica got up as well, brushing off her skirt while muttering, "Something good _better_ turn up…"

Then she too went back into her cabin.


	4. Chapter 4

"You are my finest team, Star Fox. Don't let us down!" said General Pepper through the G-Diffuser system.

"Yes, sir, will do!" said the Star Fox team's leader, Fox McCloud.

The Star Fox Team had once consisted of three members: Fox's father James McCloud, and his two teammates Peppy Hare and Pigma Dengar. They had been sent out years ago to first destroy Andross, but their mission was jeopardized when they arrived at Venom. Pigma Dengar betrayed the team, and James McCloud was not able to escape Andross. Peppy Hare barely made it back to Corneria to deliver the news to Fox.

Now the Star Fox team was needed again. This time, it consisted of four members: Fox McCloud, a determined young fox; Peppy Hare, an old rabbit that acted as a father figure toward Fox; Falco Lombardi, a sarcastic falcon and Fox's number-one pilot; and Slippy Toad, the ever-ready toad and team mechanic.

The team was being launched into space in their jets, called Arwings, to head to the asteroid field in order to get rid of some of Andross's men.

"All aircraft report right quick," Fox said through his transmission.

"This is Peppy," said Peppy. "Everything's good to go."

"Slippy here," came a high-pitched voice. "I'm all set."

"Falco speaking," said Falco. "Yeah, whatever. Let's do this."

"Okay, let's hit it," called Fox.

The Arwings blasted off through the dark recesses of space, approaching what they knew was the asteroid field.

"Dodge all asteroids," informed Peppy. "Shoot 'em if you must."

The team fired at pesky little rocks as they trudged through.

"Stay alert, guys," Fox said. "I don't know what we're up against."

"Star Fox?" came General Pepper's voice through the G-Diffuser system. "Our huskey and bulldog units are under attack on Katina. I need you to go there by way of hyperspace."

"Hyperspace, sir?" Fox said nervously.

"Yes," came the reply. "It's vital that you do. Start charging, and report back in."

Fox took a deep breath before addressing his computer, "ROB, start charging for hyperspace."

The computer replied, "This. Is. ROB. 64. Beginning. To. Charge."

"Okay, guys," Fox said, "start charging."

"Oh, thanks, Fox," Falco said with superfluous exaggeration. "I didn't hear the _first _time."

Fox replied, "Well, you don't have to be so sarcastic!"

"Well, I'm sorry, Fox, but that's my nature."

"Knock it off, you two," Peppy used is "dad" voice.

"This. Is. ROB. 64," interrupted the computer. "Charging. Complete."

"Swell…let's go," announced Fox.

Suddenly, Slippy's voice cried, "Wait, Fox, no! There's a glitch –"

Whatever Slippy was trying to say came too late. The Arwings went zipping through a blinding light in a hyperdrive, and were suddenly plunging towards an unfamiliar planet in a matter of moments.

….

It was morning down on Tesserone. Lucy had left early to go help her mother clean her house, and Monica was visiting the children at the orphanage. Gwen was alone at the cabin, dusting the living room in the kitchen while talking on the phone to her family members.

"Yeah, I know I haven't been around much, Mom," she was saying, using a paper towel to gather dust off of the coffee table. "I've been…what? No! No, everything's fine now…yes, tell Daddy I said 'hi' back…uh-huh…no, I'm just cleaning…okay, put Sandy on…"

She waited for her 6-year-old sister's voice to come on the line.

"Hi, Sandy…yeah…was it fun? Good…no, not today, I'm busy…sorry…oh, hi, Jeffrey," she said to Sandy's twin brother. "Thanks, put Allen on right quick…hey, Allen, what's up…? No, I already told Sandy…that's nice…alrighty, I gotta go…yeah, you too…buh-bye."

Gwen hung up with her 12-year-old brother and headed to her bedroom. Humming to herself, she began to dust her dresser.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash and the cabin shook. Gwen, gasping, fell over the trunk at the foot of her bed and landed hard on the wooden floor.

"_Ow_!" she hissed, scrambling to get up. "Oh, shit…! Ouch!"

She ran to her window to examine the woods behind the cabin. Sitting over bent and ruined trees was a small, blue and white jet.

As Gwen stared at it, she heard a loud, sharp, whistling sound, and soon another jet drove through the woods, almost hitting the first one.

Her blue eyes popped, the redhead began hustling out of her room. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…"

Gwen ran out through the front door and headed to the backside of the cabin. Before she could turn the corner, though, a third jet whisked by, nearly hitting the cabin itself.

Gwen shrieked, covering her ears because the loudness, and ran to where the first jet was still sitting in the woods. She jumped up on one wing of the ship and pulled herself up on the glass shield.

Someone was sitting motionless inside. The person was wearing a helmet.

"Hello?" Gwen called. She beat a fist on the glass of the cockpit. "Are you okay in there – AAHH!"

A fourth jet skidded on by and came to a halt near the rest of the jets.

"Gwen? Gwen!"

Gwen turned around to see Lucy running past the cabin toward her.

"Careful!" hollered Gwen. "I don't know if there's any more of them!"

Lucy joined her up on the first jet. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know…"

"Hey! Guys!" Monica yelled as she sprinted to them. She stopped beside the jet, huffing and puffing. "I saw those jets…from town…and…I was…worried…"

"Monica and I will go call for help," announced Lucy. "Gwen, stay here in case they wake up."

She and Monica began to retreat toward the cabin.

Gwen looked back down into the inside of the jet. The stranger had awakened, and was groggily shaking his/her head. Finally, the pilot removed the helmet and, to Gwen's horror, revealed the head of a fox.

Gwen began to scream. The fox looked up in surprise, and began to scream from inside the cockpit.

Gwen, hastily, tried to get off the jet but ended up falling instead. Lucy and Monica, having heard her screaming, came rushing back to her aid.

"What's wrong?" asked Monica, pulling her friend off the ground.

The redhead, wide-eyed, pointed a shaky finger at the glass shield as it opened up, and the fox popped out onto the hood.

Lucy and looked close to fainting. Monica cowered behind Gwen, who had not dropped her pointed finger.

The second jet's shield opened up as well, and a blue falcon climbed out of it. It stopped and stared at the girls from the wing of the jet. "Hi…"

The girls began screaming. The falcon, looking confused, muttered, "Tough crowd…"

The falcon made its way toward the fox's jet. The third and fourth jets opened their cockpits to reveal a rabbit and a toad, respectively.

Walking right by the girls, the falcon approached the fox. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied the fox.

Lucy gasped. "Ohmygod, they speak…"

The fox raised an eyebrow at her then sauntered over to the toad, who had just hopped down from the wing of his own jet.

"Slippy, what the _hell_ happened?" the fox hissed. "Something tells us this _isn't_ Katina."

"It isn't," said the toad.

"Weren't you saying something about a glitch?" the rabbit asked the toad.

"Yeah…the computer already had some pre-set coordinates aiming us in the opposite direction."

"Then where are we?" demanded the falcon.

The toad shrugged. He pointed over at the cowering girls and said, "I'm sure they know."

The rabbit took it upon himself to approach the girls with a warm smile. "Hello, we're the Star Fox Team. I'm Peppy Hare."

Despite her trembling body, Gwen repeated, "Peppy Hare?"

He nodded.

Gwen frowned. "Sounds like a brand of shampoo."

Peppy blinked, then asked, "Would you mind telling us what planet this is?"

Lucy stuttered, "Uh…it's…T-Tesserone…"

The fox shook its head. "Never heard of it. What solar system is it part of?"

Monica said, "It might be part of the Neo System…no one really knows."

The falcon said impatiently, "Well, would you stop shaking? We're not gonna hurt you."

Gwen gulped. "What…what planet are you from?"

"It's called Corneria," said the fox. "It's part of the Lylat System."

Peppy looked at the girls with interest. "Are you three humans?"

They nodded.

"Hm…" Peppy observed. "I thought they weren't real…"

Lucy shrugged. "We didn't know anthropomorphic animals were real."

Gwen frowned at her. "What word did you just use?"

"Anthropomorphic, Gwenivere," Lucy said softly. "It means they have human characteristics…like talking – and walking on their hind quarters."

"Hey, guys," the toad called from his jet. "I'm having trouble getting my Arwing to start."

"That's Slippy Toad," Peppy informed the girls. "He's our mechanic. He and his father designed the Arwings."

Fox leaned against Slippy's Arwing, saying, "Looks like we're stuck here until Slippy can fix them."

"That's Fox McCloud," Peppy said. "He's our leader."

"Great!" groaned the falcon. "The G-diffuser's all fucked up too! This has truly been a terrific day!"

"And that's Falco Lombardi," Peppy added. "And that's not just a name; it's an attitude."

Lucy managed to smile. "I'm Lucy Ferns." She nodded from one friend to the other. "This is Gwen Margo and Monica Krane."

Just then, Fox walked over to the girls. "Listen, I'm sorry we scared you three. But if you wouldn't mind telling us where the nearest town is so we can find a hotel or something –"

"There's only one town on this planet," Monica cut him off. "And there are no hotels."

Fox blinked. "Really?"

"Yeah," said Gwen. "If you'd like, you can come into our cabin and we'll tell you _why _there are no hotels…"


	5. Chapter 5

"So we landed on this planet, and we've lived here for the past six years," Gwen said, finishing the story.

"Wow," Slippy said thoughtfully. "That's rough."

They were all sipping water in the living room of the kitchen, with the girls explaining their history.

"So," Monica said. "How did you guys get here?"

"We just got lost in hyperdrive," Fox said. "Our general was sending us to a planet called Katina, where we would help out two units who were under attack from this stupid ape who's trying to take over the galaxy."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Who is this guy?"

"His name is Andross," said Peppy.

The girls looked at one another.

"_Andross_?" Gwen cried. "He's the freak that attacked Jazeloone!"

"Wait," said Falco. "How did_ he_ know your planet existed?"

Slippy said, "Falco, in case you haven't noticed, Andross works in very odd ways."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but still…_we _didn't know about Jazeloone."

Peppy stood up. "Listen, ladies, you have been very nice in letting us in for water, but, see Slippy isn't sure how long it is going to take for him to fix the Arwings. So, it would be great if you could tell us where we could find a shelter or something like that for us too –"

"Um, I might know a place," Monica said. "Could you just excuse us for a moment?"

Peppy said, "Sure."

The girls went outside the cabin, shutting the front door behind them.

"What place are you talking about?" Lucy asked Monica, puzzled. "I can't think of anywhere –"

"Here," said Monica.

"_What_?" hissed Gwen. "Monica, that's nice of you and all, but we don't have room."

"We have the study," Moncia reminded her. "We have spare mattresses. I don't think they'll turn down any of that. Beggars can't be choosers."

"What about food?" asked Lucy.

"We have enough," Monica said.

"No, as in what _type_ of foods they eat."

"Well, that'll be a problem no matter where they go," Monica pointed out. "Sending them away won't solve anything."

Gwen said, "Are you _sure_ they're safe?"

Monica rolled her eyes. "C'mon, you guys, where are your manners?"

Gwen shrugged. "Okay, fine. They can stay."

Lucy, though frowning, said, "Alright."

Monica led the way back to the living room, where the guys were waiting.

"Okay," she announced. "There really isn't a good place for you guys to stay in town, so we invite you to stay with us."

Peppy blinked. "Really? It wouldn't be much of a problem, though, would it?"

Monica shook her head.

Fox said, "Well, that's great. Thank you."

Slippy grinned and Peppy looked relieved. Falco nodded respectfully.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Falco called out.

Lucy freaked out. "Wait, Falco, no –"

Before Falco even reached the front door it opened, and a new redheaded girl came bouncing in through the front door, followed by a brunette.

The redhead was smiling until her eyes rested on Falco, then she screamed, as did the brunette, and they turned to leave.

Monica, Lucy and Gwen took action. Monica grabbed the redhead, Lucy grabbed the brunette and Gwen barricaded the door.

Falco, however, smiled. "Hi, I'm Falco, and I'm not going to hurt you."

"That's enough, Falco," warned Peppy.

The two new girls were panting as their friends struggled to maintain them. Monica gave the redhead in her grasp a slight shake. "Gretchen, _calm down_."

"Calm down?" she cried in a shrill voice. "There's an alien in your house!"

"It's okay, they're nice!" Lucy said, releasing the brunette, who turned to gawk at her. "What is going on?"

Gwen nervously took the stage. "Um…everyone, these are our friends Gretchen Palmer and Debby Vertrude. They like to hang out over here sometimes."

The brunette – Debby – nervously waved. Gretchen just stared at the "aliens."

Monica went around the room. "This is Peppy, Fox, Slippy and Falco. They're anthropomorphic animals that just crashed their jets into our backyard." Monica caught herself. "Well, _there's_ something I never thought I'd say…"

Gretchen looked at her. "We just stopped by to return the CDs we borrowed." She reached into her purse and surrendered three CDs.

"Thanks," Monica said.

There was an awkward silence, and then Lucy said to their friends, "Please don't tell anyone that these guys are here with us."

Gretchen looked at Lucy incredulously. "Girl, who's gonna believe me if did?"

"I guess that's true…"

"Are you guys still coming out tonight?" Debby asked Lucy.

Gwen answered, "Probably not."

Debby nodded. "Okay, well, it was good to…meet…you guys," she simpered at the Star Fox Team. "Gretch and I will go, and maybe we'll see you folks later…"

"Nice meeting you!" Falco hollered as the girls shut the door behind them.

Slippy rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Falco."

Fox spoke up. "What did they mean about seeing you tonight?"

"There's a free night club in town," explained Lucy. "It's pretty much everyone's only source of entertainment. We sing there sometimes."

"Well, don't let us stop you girls from going out," Peppy said. "We'll stay here and work on our Arwings."

Monica nodded. "Cool. Sounds like a plan…probably best if you worked in stealth mode anyway…"


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey, guys, are you coming or staying?" Lucy hollered at her friends impatiently later that night as she paced the kitchen. She was wearing a short, hand-made black skirt with a slinky red top, and red high heels to match. Her long, shiny black hair had been tossed into an off-centered low, messy bun, and she had put on some make up.

"Coming!" Gwen hollered back. She scurried into the kitchen, tugging on her cut-off denim mini skirt. She was wearing a tight white t-shirt with gold sequins that emphasized her chest, and brown strappy high heels. She had straightened her hair to sleek shine and put on makeup as well. "Monica, you almost ready?"

Monica emerged from her room, strutting in a short white skirt and a pink tube top, along with matching pink wedges on her feet. She had lightly curled her dirty-blond hair and put her "face" on as well.

The boys were seated in the living room as they prepared to leave.

"Good luck working on your jets," Monica said with a smile.

The girls bid the boys farewell and sashayed out the door.

There was a stunned silence when they had left.

Falco raised an eyebrow at his comrades. "Are they considered pretty?"

Fox frowned. "I think so…but I'm not sure."

….

The girls got back some time after the boys had fallen asleep on their mattresses in the study. Falco was the first of the guys to wake up in the morning. When he entered the kitchen, the girls were already up and dressed and getting ready to leave again.

"What's up?" he asked.

"See ya, Falco!" waved Gwen as she and Lucy left the cabin. Monica was still stuffing items into her purse at the breakfast table.

"What's going on?" Falco asked her.

"Oh, they're just going to go visit their families today," she replied.

"Aren't you?"

"Aren't I what?"

"Going to visit your own family today?"

Monica hesitated. "No, but I am going to go see the kids at the orphanage. Then I'm going to go visit my godmother."

Falco just looked at her.

"Hey, listen," she said breezily. "Help yourself to anything to eat. We've got fruit and cereal, mainly, but it's up to you. Okay?"

Falco shrugged. "Sounds good. Thanks."

"Alrighty, see ya."

Falco stared after her as she dashed through the front door.

….

"Ouch!" howled Slippy from underneath his Arwing. "Ugh! This is more complicated than I thought…"

Fox and Falco frowned at each other. Fox said, "You can fix it, though, right?"

Slippy crawled out from under the Arwing. "I think so…we might be okay if either we find some jet fuel in town or fix the G-diffuser so that we can contact the general."

"How much fuel would we need?" asked Fox.

Slippy shrugged. "Enough so that at least one of us can fly back and get help."

The toad leaned against his Arwing and said, "The problem with that, though, is the fact that we have no idea on how to get back. So…our best bet would probably be fixing the transmission so that they can at least find our location."

"And how do we fix _that_?" pressed Fox.

Slippy thought before saying, "I need some new wires and a generator to give it some juice. Hopefully the town will have that stuff."

"Couldn't ROB64 give the general our coordinates?"

Slippy said with sheer exasperation, "That would be _great_, Fox, but ROB _isn't_ working!"

"Okay, sorry!" snapped Fox.

Just then, Peppy strolled over and announced, "Dinner's ready inside."

"Finally," said Slippy, running off. "I'm starved."

Peppy followed after him.

"Hey, Fox?" Falco said when they were gone. "You know what's weird?"

"What?"

"This morning, Monica seemed scared to tell me why she wasn't visiting with her family today like Lucy and Gwen."

Fox shrugged. "So?"

"Well, why would she not want to tell me why she's not seeing them?" said Falco. "I think it was a harmless enough question…"

Fox shrugged again. "You don't like discussing your family around _us_."

"I have my reasons," Falco replied.

"And Monica does too," said Fox. "Maybe it's none of our business."

Falco sighed. "Fine, whatever."

"Okay, let's go eat," Fox said, leading the way around the cabin.

….

"That was a delicious salad, girls," Peppy said, leaning easily back in his chair. "Full stomach always feels good."

Lucy beamed. "Thank you, Peppy. I made it."

Monica rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's so hard to make a salad."

Lucy elbowed her as she got up with her empty plate.

"Do you all need a hand washing dishes?" Slippy offered.

"It's okay," said Lucy. "It's Gwen's turn to wash them."

Gwen stuck her tongue out at Lucy as she began collecting plates.

"Well," Fox said, getting up, "I'm off for a shower."

"I'll go continue working on the Arwings," said Slippy, also getting up. Peppy followed to help.

Monica left, announcing she was going to visit Lily Sue one more time.

Gwen, pouting, started to scrub dishes in the sink. Lucy began to wash off the top of the table. Falco was still seated at the table. As Lucy came by, attacking the table with a wet wash cloth, he asked her, "How come Monica doesn't visit her own family?"

Gwen looked over her shoulder. Lucy suddenly stopped scrubbing and frowned at the falcon. "Monica's family is dead, Falco."

Falco stared at her, slightly embarrassed. Lucy squirmed uncomfortably.

"They died during the invasion," Gwen explained from the sink. "Monica says that her parents and her older brother died when their house was bombed. She and her little brother made it outside but they got separated by the crowds of people and someone just plucked her up and put her on a jet, and she was rescued."

Falco was silent. He felt bad for asking. "Oh, well…that explains it."

He was saved by a knock on the door. Lucy answered it, and Gretch and Debby strolled in with a friendlier demeanor then the last encounter.

Falco was surprised when Gretch walked up to him with a smile. "Hi," she extended her hand. "I don't think we formerly met. I'm Gretchen Palmer. My friends call me Gretch."

Falco took her hand. "I'm Falco Lombardi. It's nice to meet you."

Debby extended her own hand. "I'm Debby Vertrude. My job is to make sure none of the girls get in trouble."

Falco laughed. "Why don't you two live here, then?"

"Five girls in a house would just be insane," answered Gretch as she sat down next to Falco at the table. "Besides, Lucy and Gwen mostly just moved in for Monica."

Falco looked at Gwen, who was stuffing dry plates into their corresponding cabinets. "Why?"

Gwen shrugged. "We felt bad for her. You know…not having a family and all…"

"Well, anyway," Debby said. "We were just coming by to see if you all were planning on going to the club tomorrow."

"We'll see," said Lucy.

"Alright," said Gretch, bounding toward the door. "See you later…hopefully."

Debby followed her out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

"RED ALERT, LADIES! TRIPLE-D IS COMING! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"

It was 9 a.m. and Gwen had made the scream from the kitchen.

Monica and Lucy came sprinting from their rooms, soon joined by the guys in the kitchen.

Fox, in shock, yelled, "What the hell is Triple-D?"

"No what, Fox," said Lucy. "_Who_."

Peppy peered out the window above the sink. Three unfamiliar girls were approaching the cabin. Peppy said to the girls, "Are you sure it's not just three more of your friends?"

"They are _so_ not our friends!" Monica cried.

"Well, why are they called Triple-D?" asked Slippy.

Before anyone could answer, the strange girls were knocking on the front door.

"Quick!" Gwen hissed at the guys. "You all need to hide! Go into the study and shut the door, okay? And no noises!"

The boys quickly and quietly crept to the study, shutting the door behind them.

Monica then went to answer the front door, where the hated trio stood.

"Monica!" squealed the girl in the middle with a fake, sweet grin.

"Cameron," Monica mumbled with a simper. She eyed the girl with disdain.

Cameron was a small, skinny girl with white-blond hair, which smelt strongly of hairspray, pulled back into a long, curly ponytail. She had on way to much mascara and eyeliner, along with pink eye shadow above her bright blue eyes. Her lips sparkled with glittery lipgloss, and she wore a piece of almost every type of jewelry. Her finger and toe nails were perfectly manicured with white tips. A small, tight, hot pink shirt embraced her busty upper body, boasting the word "SEXY" across her chest. A ruffled black skirt hugged her small, curvaceous hips.

Cameron Conway was, judged by her ever-so-hot body, perfect.

From behind Monica, Gwen and Lucy stood with their arms folded across their chests, glaring at Cameron's loyal followers: her best friends Mindy Hershel and Kylie Ronaldo.

Mindy was black, and laughed at everything her leader Cameron said. She was tall, and towered over Cameron. Kylie had olive skin and dark hair. She was loud and prissy and did everything Cameron ordered her to. She constantly had her full lips curled at Monica, Lucy and Gwen.

"Are you going to invite us in or not, Krane?" Kylie spat at Monica.

"Now, Kylie," Cameron said soothingly, "let's not be rude, right?"

She smiled sweetly at Monica. "Can we please come in? We promise we'll be quick?"

Lucy answered, "Your brevity is always underestimated but sure, come in…"

Cameron led the way into the living room, where Triple-D seated themselves side by side on the couch.

"Okay, Krane," Kylie said. "Spill it."

"Spill what?" Monica said, shutting the front door.

"Where are your friends?" Cameron sassed. "We heard from a source –"

"A very reliable source," Mindy butted in.

Cameron shot her a dirty look, and Mindy recoiled. Back at Monica she said, "We heard that you guys are hiding aliens."

"Yup, you caught us," Lucy said sarcastically.

"I plan on it," Cameron said coolly.

Gwen said, "We have no company. We don't even have room."

Cameron nodded at her. "Yes, judging by your 'shack' here, that would appear believable."

Gwen clenched her firsts. Lucy gave her a warning look before saying to Cameron, "Listen, why are you so interested in our lives all of a sudden?"

Cameron shrugged. "I just want to see what you're hiding. You know you could probably go to jail for obstruction of justice, right? So what are you stashing in this little hut of yours?"

Monica said, "Nothing."

Cameron glared at Monica. "I'm too smart for you, Krane, to believe that."

Mindy burst out laughing. Cameron gave her a sharp look to make her shut up.

Cameron then glared at Monica.

"Look, Krane," she said impatiently, "your so-called 'friend' blabbed that you had aliens hiding here. So cut the crap and tell us who they are. I don't think you can afford being arrested for conspiracy."

Monica walked over to where Cameron was sitting and glared down at her. "Who the FUCK do you think you are? You can't prove anything. I would appreciate it if you left."

Monica went to the front door and held it open. Cameron looked at her angrily, then got to her feet, snapped her fingers and, like pressing a button, her minions stood up as well and followed her to the door. Monica slammed it behind them.

The door to the study then opened and the guys journeyed into the living room.

"Did you all hear?" Lucy asked them.

Fox nodded.

Peppy shook his head disapprovingly. "I told them it was none of our business, Lucy, but they went right ahead and pinned themselves against the door."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Oh, please! You joined in too!"

Slippy said to Gwen, "So, why do you call them Triple-D?"

"Well…" Gwen explained. "We call them 'Demonic Mindy,' 'Diabolic Kylie' and 'Devil Cameron.' So, there ya go: three Ds."

Fox then asked, "Which friend do you all think they were talking about? The 'reliable source'?"

Monica, sitting down on the couch, muttered, "Gretchen Palmer, local gossip girl. She can't keep a secret to save her life."

"Are you all mad at her?" Falco asked.

"Try extremely pissed off," Lucy said, flopping on the couch next to Monica. "God, I can't believe her!"

"I can," scoffed Gwen bitterly.

"How do you know it was her?" asked Peppy. "I'm sure it's just an honest mistake."

"Was it done with malice aforethought? No," Lucy said. "But, still, it is just so typical of her."

Just then there was a new knock on the door.

"Hmmm, I wonder who THAT could be," Gwen said, turning around to open the door up for Gretch, who ran into the living room, huffing and puffing.

"Guys!" she panted. "I made…a huge mistake…You know Cameron? I might have accidentally told her about your new friends."

Lucy cocked her head at Gretch, feigning interest. "Now, how did _that_ happen, Gretch?"

"Okay, look," explained Gretch. "I was shopping at the store for shirts, and I ran into Cameron there since, you know, her dad owns it, and she was making fun of me and you guys for being poor and yadda yadda yadda…then I just wanted to make you guys sound cool so I kinda said that you had four jets behind your house because some aliens crash-landed in your backyard and you took them in."

There was an awkward silence.

"WHY does that make us cool?" Monica demanded.

Gwen, however, pretended to be stunned. "_Gretchen_! I. Am. Apalled." Then she dropped the act. "Too bad Cameron already paid her visit.

Gretch stomped a foot. "Dammit!" She looked at Monica. "I'm so sorry. I didn't think she would come over here."

Monica sighed, "Well, as long as she doesn't know about the Star Fox Team we're good."

Gretch nodded. "Are you still going to come out to the club tonight?"

"No," Gwen said flatly. "I'm not in the mood."

"Wait, guys," Lucy said in a new reasoning tone. "We need to go. If Cameron sees us it will be without our company. Maybe she'll think we're alone again, you know? I mean, who leaves guests behind?"

Monica frowned. "How do you know she'll believe that?"

"It might be our only chance," Lucy said.

Monica thought and then said. "Okay, we gotta come up with a backup plan, though."


	8. Chapter 8

"Come on, people, move it!" Monica hollered from the kitchen that evening. Everyone filed in, Lucy and Gwen both fixing their hair.

"Okay, I just got a call from Debby," Monica announced. "She's already at the club, and she said Cameron is there, so we gotta make an appearance." She began to adjust her skirt grumbling, "God, I wish we could prove to the planet what an ax wound Cameron really is."

"Why do you hate her so much?" Slippy asked.

"What d'ya mean?" Monica looked at him.

"Cameron," Slippy said. "You seem to really hate her."

Monica blinked. "Yes. What's your question?"

Slippy pressed, "Well, my question is _why_?"

"'cause she's a bitch."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Look, we don't have time for this, we gotta go."

To the boys she said, "I'm sorry we don't have anything to entertain you guys with while we're gone."

Peppy smiled kindly at her. "We'll manage."

Lucy said, "Well, feel free to do what you want. Just remember the rules: don't answer the phone, don't answer the door, and don't leave the cabin. No loud noises – keep a _low_ profile, and no eating anything labeled 'dinner,' 'lunch' or 'breakfast' in the fridge. _Please_ don't make a mess. Don't go rummaging through drawers. Gwen's cell phone number is by the phone if you need us. Okay?"

Slippy muttered to Fox, "She's just like my mom."

"See ya," Monica said, leading the way out the front door. Gwen closed it behind them.

As they walked away from the cabin Monica said, "Y'all don't think they'll do something like…go poking around our bedrooms, do you?"

"Why do you think I told them not to go rummaging through drawers?" said Lucy.

….

"Hey!" Falco said once they had left. "Let's go poke around their bedrooms!"

He began to creep toward Monica's room. Peppy barked, "Falco Bleau Lombardi, you stop right there!"

Falco halted and looked at him. "Come on, Peppy, we gotta find _somethin'_ to keep us busy!"

"It's their privacy!" argued Peppy.

Falco groaned. "Ugh! Can't we just see if they've got any good books to look at? I mean, personally, I don't see why they call that room a 'study'; all that's in there is a wooden chair, a wooden desk, a wooden bench, and pictures of themselves in _wooden_ frames."

"Cool it, Falco," said Fox. To Peppy he said, "He's got a point, though. They said we could do whatever we want. Nobody is going to mess up their stuff."

Peppy crossed his arms. "I'm very disappointed in you guys."

"I can live with that," Falco said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay," Fox said. "Lucy's bound to have some sort of books; she seems like a nerd. I will – _carefully_ – go check her room."

"I'll check Gwen's," said Slippy.

"I'll check Monica's," Falco said.

The girls' rooms were all aligned, with Lucy's at the far end of the hallway, Gwen's in the middle, and Monica's by the bathroom that separated them from the study. The cabin was one large rectangle.

Falco entered Monica's room anxiously. Her door had been shut. When he first got inside he looked around before touching anything.

Her walls were a light blue color, and the furniture was black. There was a bed in the middle of one wall, with a white comforter, and it was unmade. There were piles of clothes on the floor – Falco was not sure which were clean and which were dirty. The top of Monica's dresser was dedicated to makeup and hair products. She had a stereo beside her bed, with a stack of CDs overflowing on top of it. She had hardwood floors, but a floral throw rug was sprawled out at the foot of her bed. There were unlit candles in almost every corner.

On the opposite wall, where her window was, a bulletin board caught Falco's attention. When he looked closer, it was covered with pictures and bits of paper. The first picture Falco noticed was that of Monica, Gwen and Lucy. Monica had scribbled above their heads "Best Buds!". Next to it was a piece of paper that read: "'Life is an ugly, awful place to not have a best friend,' contributed to Sarah Dessen's _Someone Like You_."

Monica also had an old note up there that was written in blue ink and slightly hard to read.

_Mon,_

_ Gone to the grocery store, and will be picking up Louis from soccer at 3:30. Don't forget gymnastics lessons at 2 p.m._

_ Love,_

_ Mom_

The note sent a chill up Falco's spine; it must have been the last thing Monica's mother wrote her before she died.

Falco took his attention off the note and found another picture – one of Monica and her friends looking much younger, with their hair in braids and pigtails, no makeup on their faces, and braces on some of their teeth (although Falco did not know what the braces were). They all wore school skirts and collared shirts and knee socks.

All of Monica's friends that Falco had met thus far were in the picture, but he also noticed the sixth girl in the picture resembled a much-younger Cameron Conway. The girls looked happy together – including Cameron. The caption at the bottom of the picture read "First Day of 6th Grade."

Although he did not know the story just from looking at the picture, Falco could deduce that Cameron, at least at one point in time, had been part of Monica's circle of friends.

….

"You girls _have_ to sing!" Debby cried to Monica, Lucy and Gwen, who were sitting at the bar in the dance club. She was clutching a clipboard and had a pencil behind her ear. "People really want to hear you! I'm getting so many requests!"

Gwen put her drink down. "Any particular song?"

"No, just anything," Debby said. "Will you do one?"

"I'll do one," Monica offered.

"Great, right after this song is over," Debby informed, and scurried off.

Gwen spotted Cameron wandering around the club by herself. "Where is the rest of Triple-D?" she wondered out loud. "Cameron never goes anywhere alone."

"I was just noticing that too," Lucy said with a puzzled expression.

Cameron then caught the girls watching her from the bar and strolled over, nonchalantly settling down in a nearby stool. To Monica she said, "Having fun?" and smirked.

"Where are your friends?"

"They're busy," Cameron simpered. She looked off pensively, and then said, "I think I'll use the ladies' room."

Cameron scooted off her chair and disappeared into the thick crowd of dancing bodies.

"Dude, she forgot her purse," Gwen pointed at the little pink clutch Cameron had placed on the bar.

Lucy chuckled, "Well, that was smooth."

Gwen's hand shot into the clutch. Lucy looked horrified. "Gwenivere! You can get in so much trouble!"

Gwen shushed her, and pulled out Cameron's pink cell phone.

"Oooh, she just got a text," Gwen said, pushing a button.

"Read it," Monica grinned eagerly.

"It's from Kylie," Gwen reported, "and it says: 'we are almost there.'"

"Maybe they're on their way over," Lucy said.

"Wait, here's another one," Gwen said. "'We see people inside.' Pssh, big help."

"Hold on," Monica peered over Gwen's shoulder to read the text. "Third one says 'it's too dark to see who.' What are they doing? Spying on someone?" Her eyes went big. "The guys!"

Lucy gasped. Gwen gulped. Before anyone could act, Debby came running over. "Monica, come on! You're up!"

When Debby had run off, Monica took a deep breath. "Okay, Plan A: Gwen, call the boys and tell them to hide. Lucy, run home to find Kylie and Mindy and make them stop whatever it is they are doing. I'll do the song. And someone take Cameron's phone with them."

Monica hurried to go find Debby. Lucy made a beeline for the Exit. Gwen began to dial the cabin's home number on her own cell phone.

After two rings, Slippy answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Slippy, y'all gotta hide," she said urgently. "Kylie and Mindy are spying on you guys."

Slippy said, "Uh oh, okay. We're on it."

….

Slippy hollered to his teammates, "Posts, everyone!"

All the guys darted to the study.

….

Lucy panted as she ran in her high heels to the dirty road leading into the woods. As she did so, Cameron's cell phone beeped.

Fumbling with it while running, Lucy read the new message: "We are at the window." A following message said, "Should we go in?"

Lucy typed "No" and sent it.

She finally made it to the path in the woods. A new message came up wanting to know why she said no.

Lucy, getting tired, made it to the opening in the woods where the cabin was. Kylie and Mindy were peaking inside through the kitchen window, whispering to each other.

Lucy, putting on her game face, took off her shoes and began to creep toward the cabin. She had barely taken two steps when Kylie texted another message. "Are you there?"

Lucy turned off Cameron's phone and threw it as hard as she could away from her. Up ahead, she could see her opponents had not budged. She quickly and quietly, heart racing, started toward them, fuming with anger. When she was a few feet away from them she said, "Can I help you?"

Kylie and Mindy whirled around. Kylie said defensively, "What's in there, Ferns? We saw people. You can call the local authorities if you'd like, but they'll be pretty interested to hear what we have to say."

Then, Lucy did something most would consider out of her league. She drew back her hand and punched Kylie in the face.

Kylie fell over. She looked up at Lucy, dazed, as Mindy helped her up.

Kylie, breathing hard, looked Lucy in the eye and said, "I'm so gonna kill you…just wait 'til we get back here…"

"I'm not gonna wait," Lucy said. "I can kick your ass right now."

Kylie took a whimpy swing at Lucy, but she ducked, then brought her fist into Kylie's stomach, knocking the wind out of her. With Kylie clutching her chest, Mindy launched herself at Lucy. She started charging at her, only to be suddenly pounced on by Gwen, who had finally joined in on the action.

Getting in front of Mindy, Gwen flipped her over her back, slamming her into the front door, which broke loose from its hinges and fell inside. Mindy and the door landed hard on the kitchen floor.

Though grateful Gwen had arrived, Lucy scolded her best friend and said, "Well, now, that's just great, Gwen! _Now_ how are we going to keep people out of our house?"

Mindy got up, gritting her teeth and rubbing her sore back. She hissed, "We'll be back…with the authorities…"

Gwen stepped towards her and pushed her back onto the floor. Mindy rolled over, revealing scratches on the floor made by her large sandals.

Gwen cried, "Lucy, this bitch is messing up our floor!"

Even Lucy had to laugh.

Mindy got up and stumbled past Lucy and Gwen. She pulled Kylie by her arm and yanked her towards the woods. They both went limping off.

Lucy led the way in, stepping over the fragmented door. Gwen followed. She then spotted the Star Fox Team poking their heads out of the study, gawking at them.

"Well, don't stand there staring!" Gwen ordered. "Come help us fix the door!"

Still in aw, they slowly filed out of the study.

"Holy shit!" came Monica's voice. She was standing in the doorway, perplexed. "What did you guys _do_?"

"They beat the crap out of Mindy and Kylie," said Fox. "Gwen threw Mindy into the door."

Falco nodded. "It was _awesome_."

Peppy elbowed him. "Are you girls in trouble?"

"Gwen and Lucy are," Monica answered, stepping over the door. "Kylie and Mindy are probably going to find Cameron, then get the authorities."

"They're not going to jail, though, right?" asked a worried Slippy.

"We don't exactly have a jail," Monica said. "We don't even have real police. They just monitor people acting up. They'll understand Gwen and Lucy doing it in defense of their home, but they'll be here soon, and those girls saw you guys, so we're pretty much busted."

Fox looked upset. Lucy told him, "I'm sure they'll understand you're on our side. Don't worry…I'll bet everything's going to be fine."


	9. Chapter 9

Everything Monica had predicted came true. Kylie and Mindy did run and get Cameron, and they did go together to get the authorities. Lucy and Gwen did get trouble, but so did Kylie and Mindy, as well as Cameron by association.

The authorities, when they arrived at midnight, took the Star Fox Team into town. Monica remained with them, but Lucy, Gwen and Triple-D had to go and be questioned about the fight.

So, there they were. Tired. Exasperated. Guilty. The baron of the town, Baron Harte, had the Star Fox Team and Monica seated in his office, and was pacing across the carpet, still trying to shake off the disbelief that there were aliens on the planet.

"Okay," he finally said. His mustache twitched. "Miss Krane, you mind telling me what these martians were doing at your home?"

"They crashed here a couple of days ago," Monica said. "They've been trying to repair their ships but aren't having much luck."

Harte just stared at her.

"Sir," Monica pressed, "They are not evil. They are in the middle of a war back home. Do you remember Andross?"

"Of course, I do!" spat Harte. "How else did we wind up here?"

"He's a loony monkey," Monica said ("Ape," Slippy corrected quietly). "His plan is to take over the galaxy. Star Fox is trying to defeat him. They got lost and wound up here. All they want to do is get back home and get rid of him."

"Miss Krane," said the baron, "how do you know they aren't lying?"

"How do you know they are?" Monica protested.

"You've only known them a couple days!"

"You've only known them a couple of hours!"

"Sir," Fox spoke up, "we think this is crazy too, but all we need is some power for our transmissions and we'll be out of here."  
>"We have a common enemy," Peppy added. "We aim to save the galaxy. If we work together here, maybe that is something we can accomplish."<p>

"It's not like you can wage war, either," Monica told Harte matter-of-factly. "Fox says his planet's population outnumbers us 100 to 1."

Harte sighed in frustration. "Okay, okay…since I don't have many choices, I'm going to go along with this…you say you need power?"

"Yes," Slippy said. "I can hook it all up for you."

"Fine," said the baron. "We'll get it for you. You're dismissed."

They filed out of the office. Monica led the way to the waiting room where upset Lucy and Gwen sat.

"What's up?" Monica asked them.

Gwen replied, "We owe a $200 fine for the fight."

Monica looked at them incredulously. "$_200_? Guys, we don't have that money! Did you call your folks?"

"My family won't pay," Lucy said. "Neither will Gwen's. We're stuck."

Monica groaned and marched out of the building.

….

The front door of the kitchen, newly repaired, suddenly opened that afternoon, and Gretch came running into the cabin.

"Guys!" she said triumphantly to her three friends sitting at the kitchen table. "Since this is mostly my fault, I brought all of my money to help pay the fine!"

"How much is it?" Lucy asked flatly.

Gretch handed her the envelope full of her money and said, "Fourteen dollars and 27 cents."

Monica nodded, pretending to be impressed.

"Is that enough?" Gretch asked hopefully.

Monica cocked her head from side to side. Reaching for her calculator, she said, "Well…lemme see…" She punched a few buttons. "If I add my share to Gwen's…add Lucy's…plus what Lily Sue gave me…as well as the dollar we found on the sidewalk this morning…then put in yours…we have a grand total of…$64.58."

Gretch's face fell. "That's it?"

Monica nodded.

Gretch, frowning, sat down in an empty chair. "I was feeling so happy…"

"Yeah," said Gwen. "We could tell."

The phone rang from the counter. Monica went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Monica?"

"Hi, Debby."

"How's the money count?"

Monica sighed. "Not so good."

Debby then asked, "Aren't Lucy and Gwen's families going to chip in?"

"They said no," Monica replied.

"Ugh, that sucks!"

"I hear ya."

"Well," Debby said, "even though you're gonna refuse it, I'm donating my money as well…$18.20."

"You rock, Deb," praised Monica. "That will bring us up to about 82 bucks."

"Wish it could be more," Debby said. "Where are your little alien friends?"

"Out back working on their G-diffuser thingy," Monica said. "The baron gave them some power."

Monica heard movement on the other line. "Debby…?"

"Monica, look outside," Debby said.

Monica stepped out the front door, looking around. "Yeah, so?"

"Look up in the sky, toward the direction of my house," Debby instructed.

Debby's family lived North of the girls' cabin. Monica sought the sky and could see, to her disbelief, four jets moving through the air.

"Wow," Monica said with a laugh. "The boys must have gotten it working."

Pressing the mouthpiece of the phone against her shoulder, Monica made her way behind the cabin where Star Fox was fiddling with their Arwings.

"Well done!" she praised.

They looked at her, all with confusion. Seeing their faces Monica said, "Didn't you all get it working?"

"No…" said Slippy.

Monica, puzzled, said into the phone, "Hold on, Debby." To the guys she said, "There are jets coming in our direction."

The boys sprinted to the front of the cabin and looked up.

"Monica," Fox said, "They're not coming for us…that's the Star Wolf Team…they work for Andross."

"What?" cried Monica.

"Monica, what's wrong?" Debby said over the phone.

"They're bad guys!" Monica told her.

Lucy, Gwen and Gretch joined the group outside.

"Who are bad guys?" Lucy asked, looking up.

They all stared at the jets. They suddenly broke apart from the one group and veered off in different directions. One came toward the cabin.

"DUCK!" Peppy yelled.

Everyone hit the dirt as the jet fired at the cabin. Monica could hear the breaking glass of their windows.

"Monica, what the FUCK?" Debby sounded hysterical.

"Debby, one might be heading toward your house, so take cover," Monica instructed.

Debby's line became crackled. Monica realized it was because the receiver was not inside the house.

Monica turned off the phone and ran in the direction of the woods, despite Peppy's protests. Lucy and Gwen followed her.

Debby's house was situated on a lake – it was the furthest residence from town. The group made it as far as the lake that separated them from Debby's house.

One of the deadly jets flew overhead.

Monica reached the edge of the lake, her friends quickly pursuing her.

"MONICA, NO!" Peppy was yelling.

The jet flew toward the house and started shooting. It released an all-too-familiar bomb that struck the Vertrude household.

"DEBBY!" shrieked Monica, and could hear her friends scream with her.

The house went into oblivion. There was a mixture of reds, yellows and oranges, followed by a plume of smoke that came from the firey waves that had once been the Vertrude house.

Monica felt straight to her knees and screamed in anguish.


	10. Chapter 10

The body count came to 31…including Debby Vertrude.

Nobody else in her family had been in the house with her. No one in Gwen, Lucy or Gretch's families got hurt. Lily Sue was alive. Most damage had been done to the town. A total of 11 bombs had struck Tesserone. Eight of them were fatal.

All the girls did for a week was attend funerals and memorial services. Monica locked herself in her room while her friends stayed with their families. The Star Fox Team quietly worked on their ships.

Now everyone knew: Andross had found them again.

At the end of the week, Slippy announced that he had fixed the G-diffuser.

"We'll be out of here in no time!" he said triumphantly, crawling out from under his Arwing.

Fox frowned. "Guys, we can't just _leave_. Andross knows where Tesserone is now. Everyone here is in danger."

Slippy said, "Well, what can we do?"

Fox thought for a minute. Finally he said, "When our transmissions are working again, and General Pepper arrives, I say we have him meet with Baron Harte to make peace and promise to protect Tesserone since they have no military."

Peppy surprisingly shook his head. "Fox, we can't be worrying ourselves over this planet. We've got enough on our hands."

Fox ogled at him. "You mean to tell me after everything these girls have done for us we're just going to let them sit here and die?"

Falco nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's wouldn't be good citizenship, huh, Peppy?"

Narrowing his eyes, Peppy said, "That won't be enough for the general. He'll want something in return…like help."

The guys nodded, but said no more; they all knew Peppy was right.

….

From underneath her opened window, Monica sat on the wooden floor of her bedroom, listening to the guys talk. Her face was sticky from dried tears. She kept on sniffling until her nose became congested.

Sighing helplessly, she got up from her spot and wandered out of her room into Lucy's down the hall, where her two friends, having decided to get out of their families' houses, were laying on Lucy's bed.

Monica joined them, helping herself to a box of tissues the girls were sharing.

"Guys," she said, her voice shaky. "I was listening to the boys outside…they were talking about Tesserone's protection and how their general may help us…but only in exchange for some contribution from us."

"So?" sniffed Gwen.

Monica hesitated before saying, "Maybe we should go."

"Go where?" croaked Lucy.

"With them," Monica said. "To their planet…Corneria. We could help them win the war."

Lucy and Gwen's red puffy eyes stared at her.

Monica's own eyes narrowed. "It was just a suggestion."

She got up and headed toward the door. Her hand was on the knob when Gwen suddenly called, "Why?"

Monica looked back them. "Why what?"

Gwen squirmed uncomfortably. "Well, no offense, Mon, but…I think I know why _you_ would want to go…"

Monica raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Gwen said sympathetically, "Well, see…Lucy and I have families and that makes a little difficult to go and…you just…I mean…"

"I just want to get away from it all?" Monica guessed.

Gwen looked apologetic. "Yeah…maybe…"

Monica looked almost angry. Searching for better words to say, Gwen said, "I know that's not your fault, Monica, I'd want to leave too…but come on…you know Lucy and I don't much of a reason to go…only you."

Monica swallowed hard. She suddenly felt her face grow hot. It became hard to breathe. The lump in her throat was swelling painfully. Her eyes shone with fresh tears.

With her hand resting on the doorknob, she finally said, "I'm not telling you to go, Gwen…my reason was aiming more at the fact that…we're all in the same boat now. Why shouldn't we help?" Monica's voice cracked as she said, "But, sure…I guess me not having a family anymore does give me an extra reason, huh?"

She opened the door and left, going straight to Lily Sue's cottage.

….

The old record player was playing when Monica opened her godmother's front door. Lily Sue was knitting in her rocking chair, and looked up at Monica through her rectangular specs as she entered the living room.

Lily Sue removed the needle on her record player to cease the music. "Music always makes me feel better – just like it does for you."

Monica flopped onto the couch. "No song could possibly make me feel better now."

Lily Sue said, "This _will_ get better, Monnie. You just have to keep on being brave."

Monica glanced at her godmother. "I don't know how much longer I can do that. Everything's just gone from bad to worse." She hopelessly shook her head. "Gwen was right…the only reason I want to go to Corneria is to get away from everything."

Lily Sue raised an eyebrow. "They invited you to go to their planet?"

"Not exactly," Monica said. "I was just suggesting it to my friends."

Lily Sue put down her knitting. "It shouldn't be up to them on whether you go or not."

"Yeah, well, I don't want to be the only human there," replied Monica.

Lily Sue stared hard at Monica. "Monica, I think you should go."

Monica gazed at her. "Why?"

"Not just for Tesserone," answered Lily Sue, "but for yourself…I know what you want – you want to do something for yourself."

Monica cocked her head from side to side. "Yeah, kinda…"

"Nothing's ever going to happen here," continued Lily Sue. "You've got to go where things happen."

Frowning, Monica said, "But who will take care of you? Cook for you? What if there is another attack? Maybe I shouldn't go."

Lily Sue shook her head. Her gray curls bobbed stubbornly. "You'll be miserable here…you'll make _me_ miserable; you hate Tesserone."

"No, I don't!" Monica protested.

"This place reminds you of your family and now of Debby," Lily Sue went on. "So go away with Star Fox. Go and find your smile."

Monica sadly said, "What if I can't?"

Lily Sue smiled. "I'm never wrong about these things."

….

When Monica arrived at her cabin, she paused outside the door. She took a deep breath and walked inside.

Lucy and Gwen were reading magazines in the living room. They both looked up at her when she entered.

Monica shrugged and said, "I'm going."

At first, her friends said nothing. Lucy opened her mouth but nothing came out. Gwen finally said, "Mon, if this about what I said earlier –"

"It's okay, Gwen," Monica cut her off, trying to sound kind. "I know you weren't trying to be mean. It's just my decision."

Monica walked toward her bedroom, calling over her shoulder, "You guys are welcome to come with me."

Lucy called back in a reasoning tone, "Okay, there's no need to be rash, Monica, let's just talk –"

_Slam._

"Or not…"

Gwen shook her head in disbelief. "I think she's acting ridiculous. I honestly don't know what we're doing wrong, Luc'. She's just not talking to us."

Lucy shook her head. "No, I think we're not listening. I don't think she needs to talk in order for us to understand."

Gwen threw her hands up in the air. "I really do want to understand, Lucy! What will going away solve?"

Lucy shrugged. "She can be miserable here, or she can be miserable on Corneria. I say she should go."

Staring at Lucy in shock, Gwen said, "_Huh_? Are you _nuts_? Do you_ want _her to get killed, Lucille? She's not going there on vacation; she's going to help with the war effort."

"It'll get her mind off of everything here," Lucy pointed out.

Gwen groaned and got up from the armchair she had been sitting in. She paced across the rug. "Monica is driving me crazy! She can't go to an alien planet alone!"

Lucy nodded before saying matter-of-factly, "I agree, which is why I'm going with her."

"WHAT?" shrieked Gwen. "Ugh! You people are so screwed up!"

Lucy rolled her dark eyes and got up from her spot on the couch. "Quit being so dramatic, Gwenivere."

Gwen followed Lucy into the kitchen, fussing the whole way, "They haven't even told us if we are allowed to go or not. Plus, we've got families."

Lucy, having reached the kitchen sink, started scrubbing dishes. "So? One of the reasons we moved out was because we wanted to get out of their way and start our own lives. Why should they care? They're not even helping us pay off our fine for fighting with Triple-D."

Lucy's violet eyes suddenly went big with wonder.

"Uh oh…" Gwen said nervously, backing away from her friend. "You've got that look…"

"Gwen," said Lucy, "I just figured out how we're going to repay our debt."

Raising an eyebrow Gwen asked, "How?"

"We'll make a wager with the baron," Lucy explained. "If we go to help get rid of this wacko ape who destroyed our planet…he can release us of all charges."

Gwen squirmed. "I dunno…what if that doesn't work?"

Lucy shrugged. "What have we got to lose?"

Gwen said with exasperation, "_Fine_! I'll go!"

Lucy happily squealed, "Yay!" before throwing her arms around Gwen.

"Don't thank me yet," Gwen muttered. "They haven't told us we can go with them or not yet."


	11. Chapter 11

"I think it's a great idea," Fox said that evening at dinner.

Gwen, who was leaning against the counter, gazed at him. "Really?"

Peppy smiled. "But really, girls, you've done enough for us already."

Monica, for the first time in a week, smiled and looked at Gwen. "I still can't believe actually want to come!"

"We still need to get the okay from our parents," Gwen said. "I have no idea what mine is going to say."

"When are you all gonna start heading over there?" Falco asked before taking a sip of water.

"As soon as Lucy hurries up," replied Gwen. She glanced at her watch before hollering. "Lucy! It shouldn't take _that_ long to get dressed!"

"I'm coming!" Lucy called back as she entered the kitchen.

Gwen stared at her. "What _are_ you wearing?"

Lucy looked down at herself. She was wearing a lacy summer dress covered in blue flowers, along with white high heels. Looking back up at her friend she said, "I need to make a good impression with my mom. She made me this dress last year."

Fox asked her with a mouth full of meat, "Why do you need to impress your mother?"

Lucy said flatly, "My mother is a little difficult. She's never approved of anything I've done. She always tries to run my life like I'm still a little kid. So, of course, one of the many things she dislikes about me is my wardrobe, and I wanna try to keep her in a good mood."

Fox smiled. "She's a protective mom."

Lucy shook her head. "She's a whiney control freak."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Sound familiar, Lucille?"

Lucy simpered before leading the way out the door. "Have a nice evening, everybody."

Lucy's family lived northeast of the girls' cabin. Half a mile northwest was where Gwen's family lived.

The Ferns family owned a small cottage complete with two bedrooms – one for the parents Riley and Winnie and one for her two sisters, 10-year-old Zoë and 5-year-old Delaney. When she still lived at the house, Lucy shared the room with her sisters.

Smoke was billowing out of the chimney when Lucy arrived. After knocking on the creaky front door, Lucy waited until her father answered.

"Lulu!" he cried happily, embracing his eldest daughter in a hug. "I swear you've grown an inch since I last saw you."

Lucy laughed. "You saw me just the other day, Dad."

"How's your washing machine working?"

"Not at all," she replied, walking into her parents' house.

"Lucy!" came the high-pitched voice of Zoë as she bound out of her bedroom.

"Loozy!" came another voice as Delaney followed her sister to the front door.

Lucy kindly greeted her little sisters before saying to Riley, "Where is Mom?"

"Getting dinner," Riley said. "She's making a potato casserole. Are you staying?"

"Yes, I've got stuff to tell you," Lucy said.

"We heard about the aliens you were keeping," Zoë said. "And the fight you had with those girls."

Lucy frowned. "How uh…did you know about the 'aliens'?"

"It was in _The Daily Flyer_," Zoë relied. The 10-year-old went to the coffee table in the living room and retrieved a blue piece of paper to hand to Lucy.

Tesserone did not produce a paper. Announcements were published in a flyer that became _The Daily Flyer_. Lucy found this edition's talked solely about the attack and the "aliens" that were living with her friends.

"Your mother isn't very happy," Riley informed her.

"What else is new…"

"Is that what you came to talk to us about?" Riley gestured toward the paper.

"Sorta," Lucy handed the paper back to Zoë.

Riley seated himself on the couch. "You're wearing the dress Mom got you. This must be serious."

"Maybe," Lucy sighed, joining her dad on the couch.

"Mommy's coming!" cried Delaney in delight, peaking through the window by the front door by standing on a chair.

"Delaney, sweetie, off the chair, please," Riley instructed. When she did, Riley addressed his middle child, "Zoë, why don't you and Delaney go play with your dollhouse?"

Zoë frowned. "Delaney broke it last week, remember?"

"Then why don't you go play with just the dolls?"

"Delaney took all of their heads off."

"Then go play outside," Riley said through gritted teetch.

Zoë looked at her father suspiciously. "Oh, I get it! You want me and Delaney out of here because Lucy is going to talk about an R-rated topic…like she's going to elope! Or she's on drugs! Or maybe she's gonna tell you about the fight with all the gory details and –"

"Thank you, Zoë, that's enough," Riley said flatly. "Take your sister and get out."

Zoë, pouting, beckoned for Delaney to follow her and stomped outside, passing their mother Winnie as she walked through the front door with an arm full of groceries.

Winnie eyed at Lucy. "Hello, Lucille. Enjoying your new guests?"

Lucy said brightly, "Quite, thank you."

Winnnie disappeared into the kitchen to deposit her groceries. When she returned to the living room she sat upright in an armchair facing her daughter. "I trust your sisters showed you _The Daily Flyer_ already?"

"Mmhm."

Winnie shook her head disapprovingly. "I ran into Debby's poor mother Alice at the marketplace. She is so depressed, it's heartbreaking. Look at what those aliens brought to Tesserone!"

Lucy cried, "It wasn't their fault! They didn't even know we existed!"

Winnie rolled her eyes. "Oh, sure, Lucy! Like we should believe that!"

"I don't have a reason not to!" declared Lucy.

"Well, of course you don't," Winnie said irritably. "Look at what living away from home has done to you! It's poisoning your mind!"

The comebacks went back and forth.

"It is not poisoning my mind!"

"It's certainly effected your judgment!"

"Well, pardon me for helping those in need of help!"

"They were insidious to your life at the very beginning when they first crashed here!"

"They're not insidious, they're magnanimous!"

"Ugh, how could you even _think_ of using that word?"

"Maybe I'm just a nicer person!"

"You're a little low on the food chain to be mouthing off at me, young lady!"

"I don't exactly think you have any room to talk either, Mommy Dearest!"

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Riley.

Winnie and Lucy gazed at him.

"Can we have one meeting where you two don't end up arguing?" Riley said. To Lucy he said, "I'm disappointed in you for not telling us about these guys, and for the fight. But I know you were only trying to help them, and that you were defending them during this fight. So, I'm glad you took the liberty in being gracious enough to invite them in your home."

When Lucy did not reply, he said, "However, I know you didn't come over here just to bicker with your mother. You can do that easily by phone. So, what did you come here to tell us?"

Lucy took a deep breath. "The Star Fox Team is currently working on their transmission thingies so that their planet can locate them and come pick them up. Monica, Gwen and I are going to make a deal with Baron Harte: if we go with the team to help with the war effort, then he can drop all of the charges for fighting with Kylie and Mindy. This way, we can pay off our debt."

Winnie stared at her. "You're crazy! Absolutely insane! You'll be killed! No, you can't go! My answer is no!"

Winnie got up to leave. Lucy said to her, "I'm not asking you if it's okay for me to go. I am saying that I am going."

Lucy got up and headed toward the door.

"This is absurd!" Winnie cried. "Riley, do something!"

Lucy looked back at her father with a frown.

Riley cocked his head at her. To his wife he said, "I think her mind is made up. I wish her good luck and to _be careful_."

Lucy smiled, barely. "Thanks, Dad."

Without even a glimpse at her mother she left.

"This is ludicrous!" shrieked Winnie before storming to the kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

Monica, Gwen and Lucy headed into town the following morning to talk with Baron Harte.

"So then my dad wished me luck," Lucy was saying, "and I left."

"How did your parents take it, Gwen?" Monica asked.

"Well…" Gwen said thoughtfully, kicking a stick out of her way. "There was some sitting…and staring."

Monica and Lucy sniggered.

"And after that," continued Gwen, "there was some more sitting and staring." Her friends laughed. "And for all I know, my parents are still in the living room, sitting…and staring." She stretched her arms over her head. "They didn't say no, though."

"Who cares if they did?" Lucy scoffed. "My mom said no and I'm still going."

"You and your mother have an interesting relationship, Luc'," Monica said.

"'Interesting' does not begin to even cover it."

They arrived at the small, wooden building that acted as Baron Harte's office. Once inside they found themselves in the waiting room being operated by a large woman sitting behind a desk, filling paperwork.

"Hello," Monica said brightly. "We're here to see Baron Harte."

The secretary looked up at them behind large reading glasses. She said in a drowsy, uncaring tone, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh…" Monica said nervously. "Perhaps…do you have an appointment sheet?"

The secretary, staring at her suspiciously, reached for a clipboard using her chubby fingers. She tapped the sheet with a fat index finger and said, "Sure. Give me your name and I'll check for it."

Gwen, with her eyes on the large secretary, elbowed a plastic cup full of pencils and knocked them all onto the floor.

"Oh, sorry!" she simpered.

The not-amused secretary eyed at her. "Allow me, sweetie."

She rolled herself out of her chair and onto the floor. As she began to pick up the scattered pencils, Monica seized the clipboard.

Lucy quickly mouthed, "We don't have an appointment!"

Monica growled, "_I know_!"

She scanned the list of names and found one put down for 10 a.m. The name was Janis Reid.

Monica put the clipboard back down on the desk as the secretary heaved herself back up, placing the cup of pencils back on the desk.

"Now," she said, picking up the clipboard and sitting back down, "your name please?"

"Janis Reid for 10," Monica said.

The secretary found the name and grumbled, "Very good."

She then lifted a hairy eyebrow at the girls. She asked Monica, "Who are your friends, _Janis_?"

"Oh, I, uh, didn't know I had to leave their names as well," Monica lied. She nodded from Lucy to Gwen saying, "This is…Hillary Kensington and my cousin…Morticia…Jones."

Lucy stared at her. Gwen blinked.

The secretary took a walkie-talkie and said into it, "Mr. Harte, Janis Reid is here to see you along with her friend Hillary Kensington and Morticia Jones."

The baron's voice replied, "I don't know a Hillary or a…_Morticia_…but send them on back anyway."

Monica led the way down the hall to the baron's office. He was busy scribbling notes when they entered. His eyes grew big when he saw who was in his office.

"Miss Krane?" he said, baffled. "Where's Janis Reid? My secretary Evelyn said she was here."

Monica pretended to look puzzled. "Janis Reid? Me? Uh, no…uh oh, you guys…Evelyn must be on crack…"

Gwen sniggered. Lucy gave Monica a dirty look, as did Baron Harte.

"Sit down," Harte ordered. "And make this quick!"

While Lucy and Gwen stayed by the door, Monica took the seat across from Harte's desk.

"Okay," she said, all business-like. "You know how the Star Fox Team is working on their G-diffuser thingamabobbers? Well, we were going to suggest that when their people come to take them home, we go with them to help out with the war effort. And since we would be doing this for our planet, we would go in exchange of you dropping all of our charges from fighting with Kylie and Mindy."

Baron Harte blinked. "You would be willing to go help fight the ape that nearly wiped out the human race, caused us to relocate to another planet and find us again and murder 31 people?"

Monica shrugged. "Yeah, what do you say?"

The baron stared at her. "I think you're full of shit."

Monica looked nervously over at her friends.

"But," Harte said, "it's about time someone stood up for us. Okay, Miss Krane. It's a deal."

They shook on it, and the baron dismissed the girls.

Once back outside, the girls happily high-fived each other and ran home to tell the guys. They found them behind the cabin, tending to the Arwings.

"He's letting us go!" announced a triumphant Monica.

"That's terrific," Slippy said. "Especially since I just finished the G-diffuser system. Our planet picked up the signal and they're coming to get us!"


	13. Chapter 13

"Oh, I can't wait to get back home," said Fox, leaning back in his chair as they ate lunch. "My sisters are probably worried sick about me."

Lucy cocked her head at him. "I didn't know you had sisters."

Fox nodded. "One is my twin, Star. The other is my 15-year-old sister Jamie."

"Star and Fox?" said Lucy. "You were named after the team?"

"No," said Fox. "We were born beforehand. My father named the team after us."

"So Jamie was left out?" joked Lucy.

Fox smiled. "No, her name is associated with my father's: James. Jamie is short for Jamesina."

Slippy grinned thoughtfully. "I'm anxious to taste my mother's homemade cookies again. My younger brother Hoppy and I always fight over 'em."

Peppy looked over at Falco and said, "What's waiting back home for you, Falco?"

Slippy sneered, "_Kaaaatt_."

Falco gave him a murderous look.

"Who's Katt?" Monica asked.

"Katt Monroe," Slippy answered, "is Falco's _girlfriend_."

"_Ex_-girlfriend," snapped Falco. "I broke up with her last year."

Peppy said, "I thought you two were still friends?"

"Sorta," mumbled Falco. "She can sure be a pain in the ass."

Just then, Gwen came into the kitchen dragging two duffle bags behind her. "How many pairs of shoes do you actually own, Lucy?" she huffed, tossing one bag by the front door. "Seventeen? Eighteen?"

"I don't have 17 pairs of shoes!" snapped Lucy. "It's more like six…ish."

"Guys," Monica spoke up, "why are you already packed up? Who knows when their people are going to arrive."

Slippy rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, the entire Cornerian army is out looking for us. It won't take them long."

Right after he said it, there was a low, whistling sound coming from outside. The table began to vibrate slightly.

Fox excitedly jumped up from the table and ran outside. Everyone else followed him.

"What is THAT?" cried Gwen, pointing up at the sky.

An immense white ship was slowly coming down toward the ground near the cabin.

"It's our mother ship," Fox called over the rumbling. "It's called Great Fox."

Slippy joyously jumped up and down. "They found us! They actually found us!"

Great Fox landed in the large opening in front of the cabin. Monica noted that it had fox-like features; it really did resemble a giant white fox – without legs.

Slippy led the way to what would have been the tail end. A ramp led to a sealed door that opened up to reveal a figure. The figure came running in their direction down the ramp. When it came into view, it turned out to be a short grey dog wearing a green helmet with dark shades covering the eyes.

"Bill Grey!" hollered Fox, laughing. "It's you!"

Bill Grey's mouth curved into a smile as he approached. "Nice to see you guys are still alive." He halted when he saw the three girls. "Who are they?"

Peppy made formal introductions. "They're humans…this is Monica Krane, Lucy Ferns and Gwen Margo. Girls, this is Bill Grey, lieutenant of the Husky and Bulldog Units for the Cornerian Army."

Bill cocked his head at the girls. "You three are really truly humans?"

The girls nodded.

"Ahem," came a new voice, and Bill stepped aside to reveal a Saint Bernard in a red uniform.

"General Pepper!" Peppy called out to him. "Good to see you!"

"Likewise, Peppy," applied the approaching dog. "Your families will be very pleased to hear that you are all safe."

He eyed at the girls. "Humans?"

The girls nodded with some exasperation.

"Sir," Bill spoke up, "they are Monica Krane, Lucy Ferns and Gwen Margo."

"They saved us, sir," Fox spoke up. "They've been letting us stay in their home. We've also met their baron and these humans are on our side; Andross destroyed their old planet six years ago and recently launched a new attack."

"What planet is this?" Pepper asked.

"Tesserone," Fox said. He hesitated before saying, "These girls have a proposition for you."

"Oh?" the general said with interest.

Monica stepped forward and said nervously, "There aren't that many of us left, sir. In fact, your people outnumber us 100 to one. We have no military, and Andross attacked us last week and killed many people. So, we – my friend and I – would like to come and help with the war effort."

General Pepper looked at her with consideration. "What would you three get in return?"

Gwen smirked. "Debt-free lives…" Lucy elbowed her.

"We just want protection for our planet," Monica told the general.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "You seem very sure of yourself."

Monica shrugged with a smile.

"I'll let you three come," General Pepper said, "as soon as I meet with your baron."

"I'll take you to him," Gwen offered.

"We'll start loading up our Arwings," Fox said.

….

Evelyn was in her usual spot behind the front desk when Gwen entered the building with General Pepper and Bill.

Evelyn glared at Gwen and said in her drowsy voice, "Well, if it isn't Morticia Jones…back so soon?"

Pepper and Bill rallied behind Gwen. Evelyn's chunky mouth dropped into an o-shape.

General Pepper said, "I humbly ask to meet with your baron, please."

Evelyn, eyes glued to the general, said into her walkie talkie, "Mr. Harte? There are two dogs here to see you."

"Two _what_?" came Harte's voice.

Gwen snatched the walkie talkie from Evelyn. "Sir? This is Gwen Margo. I'm here with the Star Fox Team's general – General Pepper."

"Already?" Baron Harte said with surprise. "Well, come on back, Miss Margo."

Gwen took the general and Bill to the baron's office, where Baron Harte was waiting anxiously.

General Pepper proudly stuck his paw out at the baron. "General Robert Clarence Pepper, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you."

The baron shook his paw, saying, "Baron Peter Quincy Harte. Likewise, I'm sure."

General Pepper gestured toward Bill and said, "This is Captain William Grey, head of my Huskey and Bulldog Unit for the Cornerian Army."

Bill shook Harte's hand.

"Miss Margo and her company have mentioned their proposition," Pepper said, "and since we appear to be on the same side, I will be sure to put up defense for your planet."

Baron Harte looked relieved. "Thank you, sir. We will be very much obliged."

Gwen gleefully clasped her hands together. "Woot woot! Our planet is going to be okay!" She held up one hand and looked at Bill. "Up top!"

Bill just stared at her.

….

Monica arrived at Lily Sue's cottage that evening to inform her godmother of the day's events. She found Lily Sue lounging in the living room, sipping tea, when she entered.

"I saw a large aircraft land near your cabin today," Lily Sue said. "What was it?"

"Great Fox," Monica replied, sitting down in a rocking chair. "It's the team's mother ship. We leave for Corneria in the morning."

"Your friends are going with you?"

Monica nodded. "General Pepper says he'll let us return home for visits as frequently as possible."

"Good," said Lily Sue, smiling at Monica. "I'll miss you, Monnie."

Monica smiled sadly. She then noticed Lily Sue was staring at her with an unreadable expression. "What?"

"You know who you remind me of?" said Lily Sue. "Your mother. You have her eyes."

Monica only smiled. "Cool."

"She looked so much like you when she was your age," her godmother went on. "And you sound like her…I really am going to miss you, but I know you'll be happy on Corneria."

Monica laughed. "To help with a war, Lily Sue."

"Try not to think of it so much," Lily Sue said. "You might like it there."

"I'll keep that in mind," Monica said. "How do you know I'll be totally happy there, though?"

There was spark in Lily Sue's eyes when she said, "I'm never wrong about these things."

Monica decided not to question her authority. She got up and hugged her godmother, saying, "Goodnight. I will see you soon."

Lily Sue patted her back. "Be safe."

"I know."

"Don't do drugs."

"I won't."

"Or sell them."

"Lily Sue!"

"Okay, okay," Lily Sue laughed, letting her goddaughter go. "I love you, Monnie."


	14. Chapter 14

After scarfing down breakfast the following morning, Lucy locked the front door of their cabin and, heaving her backpack onto her shoulders and dragging along her duffel bag, she made her way to Great Fox with Gwen and Monica.

"Wait!" she said, suddenly stopping. "Did everyone get a chance to go to the bathroom?"

Monica, gazing at Great Fox, said, "Something tells me they've got a least one bathroom on board."

They entered Great Fox through the Docking Bay, where the Arwings were kept. Through there they walked through an automatic sliding door that led into what was called the galley. The galley contained a kitchen and living room area.

From the galley, the group ventured into the middle of the ship, where the hallways were made of metal. Even the doors were metal, and they opened with a push of a button.

"Similar to the schools back on Jazeloone," Gwen observed. "It's been a while since we've seen anything made of metal."

The guys led them to a set of rooms at the end of the hallway, which would serve as the girls' rooms.

"Wow, even metal rooms!" Monica cried from her room. "I have my own television…and a closet…and a dresser…and a bed…everything! But no stereo…"

Peppy rolled his eyes and went on to say, "Our rooms are nearby. In fact, Falco's is right next to Monica's."

Falco and Monica exchanged glances.

"I don't want any poking around bedrooms, _Falco_," Peppy said sternly. "And no hanky panky."

Falco rolled his eyes while the others sniggered.

Just then Bill came bounding up to the group in the hallway, carrying a clipboard.

"Okay, General Pepper wanted me to go over the rules," he announced. "One – always be on time for meetings. Two – no loud music. Three – boys stay in their rooms, girls stay in their rooms. Four – no drinking/smoking. Five – no false alarms. Six – only one person may use any bathroom at a time. Seven – clothing must be modest. Eight – no talking back to your commanding officer. Nine – you must go straight to the meeting room when the alarm goes off. Ten – the following areas are banned: the engine room the steering room and the docking bay."

Bill put down the clipboard and quickly recited, "If you fail to abide by these rules, you can and will be court marshaled by any of your commanding officers including General Pepper, Fox McCloud and William Grey. Any questions?"

Gwen raised her hand. "Yeah, when's lunch?"

Monica, Fox, Falco and Slippy all sniggered. Peppy and Lucy shot them dirty looks.

Bill, glaring at Gwen, said, "Failing to abide by the rules also includes asking stupid questions!"

Gwen said brightly, "You didn't say that in the rules, hon."

Bill snorted before turning on his heel and walking off.

"Right after he had left, a metallic voice came on the PA system. "All. Crew. Memebers. Prepare. For. Take. Off."

"Looks like ROB is up and running," Fox said.

"How do we prepare for takeoff?" Lucy asked.

"Like so…" said Peppy, heading over to the wall of the hallway. He pulled out of the wall a sort of fold-out chair. "Pull a chair out and buckle up."

Suddenly, Great Fox began to vibrate. The girls could feel butterflies in their stomachs as they fastened their seatbelts, and the hallway began to feel weightless.

Great Fox hovered off the ground for a moment before gradually moving forward and upward. It began to scale the air.

ROB64 came back over the intercom, "Please. Remain. Seated. As the. Ship. Prepares. For. Hyperspace."

"Hyperspace?" echoed Monica.

Falco said, "It's the only way to get back to the Lylat System. It's no biggy."

Great Fox then made a sudden jerk and began to roar. Everyone was pinned against the wall as it zipped through space.

It did not last long. Everything abruptly stopped. The roaring ceased. ROB announced, "Hyperdrive. Is. Complete. Great. Fox is. Currently. Twelve. Hours. From. Corneria."

"Awesome," said Fox, getting up out of his seat and pushing it back into the wall.

Falco said to Monica, "See? No biggy."

They all began to put their own chairs back. As they did so, General Pepper's voice came over the intercom. "Bill Grey and Star Fox, please report to the meeting room along with our new members. That is all."

Slippy dramatically announced, "To the meeting room!"

The toad led the way to a different part of the ship, where they found a sealed room with a long, rectangular table and six chairs on either side. Bill and General Pepper were already in the room and seated at the table. At one end of the room was a large computer screen. General Pepper was holding a remote control.

Everyone took a seat and turned their attention to the general.

"Now then," he said, "ladies, although I am flattered that you want to help us defeat Andross, I must ask…have you had any military experiences?"

The girls looked at one another. Monica confessed, "No, sir."

General Pepper nodded expectantly. He took the remote in his hand and pushed a button. On the large computer screen appeared a picture of a wolf, a chameleon, a pig and an ape.

"This is the Star Wolf Team," General Pepper explained. "They are the ones that just recently attacked Tesserone. The wolf is Wolf O'Donnel. The chameleon is Leon Powalski. The ape is Andross's nephew Andrew Oikanny. The pig is Pigma Dengar; he was on the original Star Fox team with Peppy and James, Fox's father, and he betrayed them."

Lucy shook her head with confusion. "How did they know about Tesserone? We've never heard of them."

General Pepper frowned. "I wish I knew the answer, Miss Ferns, but we have yet to discover the way Andross is connected to everything."

He turned off the screen before saying, "Well, what we need to figure out is a good place to put you girls so you can help. Do you have any special skills?"

"We all know martial arts," offered Gwen. "We're pretty flexible – we try to tie some of it into our dance moves. Lucy used to do ballet, I was a cheerleader and Monica did gymnastics." She glanced at her friends before continuing. "Lucy is also really resourceful and could probably figure out a computer if she had one. Monica's a good writer and I…I…"

Gwen looked to her friends for help. Lucy offered, "Gwen is good at talking."

Gwen gave her a dirty look."

"We've seen some of their moves, though, sir," Fox told the general. "They're not bad."

After thinking for a moment, General Pepper said, "We'll have to see how well they manage in training, then."

To Bill he said, "Take the girls to the gym and try some practice rounds."

Bill got up from the table and beckoned for the others to follow him out of the meeting room.

The gym was behind a sliding door on the other side of the hallway. It revealed a wrestling room; the floor was matted, there was a rack full of helmets and boxing gloves in the corner, and a weight-lifting station rested in another corner.

Bill wandered onto the middle of the matted floor. The girls followed.

"Okay," he said. He looked at Monica and summoned her forward. "Hit me."

Monica blinked. "Huh?"

Bill pressed, "Hit me."

Monica frowned at the grey dog. "I can't do that."

Bill rolled his eyes from behind his shades. "Why not?"

Glaring at him, Monica said, "I have to be kinda motivated to do so, duh!"

"_Duh_!" mocked Bill. He put his hands on his hips and said in a prissy voice, "I can't because I have to _motivated_ to do so. Puh! Motivated, my ass! They actually tell you to act like a pansy on your planet? Are you _scared_? Are you _lying_? Are you –"

Monica shoved her fist into Bill's face. Bill fell to the floor. He removed his shades to show his wide brown eyes staring at Monica. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and flipped him over her shoulder. Bill landed hard on his back. Vexed, he scrambled to get back up and grab Monica, but she jumped backwards, then did a backflip to get away from Bill. As he stepped forward, Monica whipped out her leg toward Bill's stomach and soon he was back on the ground again.

"Okay, okay!" he cried, clutching his stomach. "I'll tell the general you can fight!"

Monica shrugged casually. "Alright."

….

"That was cool!" Falco praised Monica as they walked together down the hall where their rooms were. "You've got mad skills."

Monica laughed. "Thanks. It's been a while since I've done that."

"Could've fooled me," Falco said. "Andross won't know what hit him."

Monica felt herself blushing. "So, will your own family be waiting on us when we arrive on Corneria?"

Falco hesitated. "No…both of my parents are dead and I never had any siblings."

Monica narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Falco stopped in front of his door. "It's okay. My dad was a pilot. He was shot down. My mom was leader of a Special Forces group. They worked in a submarine that was also shot down. Her whole team died – same week as my dad. I was 10 years old."

"You and I have a similar background," Monica observed.

"Yep," Falco said. "Same with Fox, 'cept he has his sisters. His mom died in a car accident when he was little."

They were quiet for a minute.

"Were you once friends with that Cameron girl?" Falco suddenly asked.

"Ummm," replied Monica. "She was kind of a social climber. She thought being friends with us would hinder her ability to be popular. So she ditched us."

"Ouch."

"What about you and this Katt girl?" Monica said. "Do you like her at all?"

"I don't _hate_ her," said Falco. "She is just a difficult girl to date. She's a student teacher at the military academy that Fox's little sister attends. She'll probably be there to greet us when we land." Falco rolled his eyes.

Monica smiled. "I'm sure she's nice."

"Oh, she'll be nice, alright," Falco said. "It's her nature."

Monica laughed. "See ya, Falco." Both headed into their rooms.


	15. Chapter 15

"Great. Fox. Is now. Approaching. Corneria," ROB64 announced many hours later.

Monica met up with Lucy and Gwen in the galley. Gwen was bouncing excitedly. "Ohmygod, I can't wait to see Corneria! I bet it has swimming pools, spas, malls, hotels, restaurants…"

Lucy raised her eyebrows at the redhead. "That's funny coming from the girl who didn't want to come here in the first place."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "I hope the people like us…"

They suddenly felt the ship jerk a little as it made a complete stop.

"Yay, we're here!" Slippy cried as he rushed by the girls toward the docking bay.

"Slippy, halt!" hollered Peppy, entering the galley.

Slippy stopped short and turned his stout body around to look at peppy.

"We need to wait on the general!" Peppy hissed.

"D'aww, quit being such a goody-goody, Peppy," Falco said as he strolled into the galley with Fox and Bill.

"Well, we're supposed to wait, Falco," Bill told him.

General Pepper appeared, walking in from the opposite hallway and walking dutifully toward the door leading into the docking bay. Bill followed alongside Fox, then the rest of the Star Fox Team, and then the girls.

General Pepper went through the docking bay, passing the newly-repaired Arwings and heading down the ramp that led to the outside world. As he descended the ramp, the girls found themselves in a place resembling an airport. Waiting at the bottom of the ramp was a small crowd of more anthropomorphic animals, who happily cheered when they saw the Star Fox Team.

A vehicle that looked like a golf cart was waiting for the general when he reached the bottom of the ramp. The iguana driving the cart saluted the general as he took the passenger's seat, and they drove off.

Fox was being embraced by another fox that looked similar to him – only with darker fur – and a smaller fox, as well as a grey fox that looked about the same age as the smaller red fox. A pink cat waved flirtatiously at Falco, who reluctantly waved back. Falco then went on to be greeted by two falcons, a blue one and a red one. Two fat toads warmly welcomed Slippy.

"Good to see you again, Falco," the cat purred. She spotted the girls standing at the foot of the ramp and said, "Are those…humans?"

Peppy quickly addressed the crowd, "Yes, sorry – everyone, these are the girls that saved us: Monica Krane, Lucy Ferns and Gwen Margo."

The pink cat squirmed in place. "Pleasure. I'm Katt Monroe."

Fox stepped aside as if to present the foxes that greeted him. "These are my sisters Star and Jaime" – he gestured toward the grey fox – "and Jaime's friend Ella Contour."

Fox's sisters and the grey fox smiled and waved.

Slippy introduced his parents, Petunia and Beltino, who seemed equally pleased to meet the girls.

Falco gestured toward the two falcons that had greeted him. "These are my cousins Dev and Mel." Dev appeared to be the blue male falcon. Mel was the red female. Both falcons gawked at the girls but did not say anything.

Monica tried to focus on the members of the crowd who were smiling at her and her friends. "I'm glad we could be here."

Katt Monroe measured them with her blue eyes. "If you don't mind my asking…_why_ are you here?"

"Andross is attacking their planet," explained Falco. "So, they came to help with the war effort."

Katt simpered before turning on her heel and walking off. Monica watched her go, marching in her army boots and black pants, swinging her arms underneath a white jacket that covered a pink turtleneck. Katt strongly reminded her of Cameron Conway.

"Where did Bill go?" Fox then asked.

Peppy pointed off towards a black zoomer that was parked on the pavement. Bill was leading on the outside of it, talking into a cell phone.

"Busy-body," Jaime McCloud giggled.

The Star Fox Team began to bid their loved ones farewell – except for the three vixens that appeared to be tagging along with the group.

Bill rejoined as the crowd commenced. He said to Star, "We are needed at the Cornerian Air Base for a meeting. We gotta find Katt 'cause she needs to come to."

Star said to Jaime, "I've got to drop you off at Grandma and Grandpa's then."

Jaime protested, "Our brother just returned home with new friends and we're gonna ditch him? Don't you even want to hear what he's been up to for the past two weeks?"

"He can tell us tonight," Star said firmly.

"Well, do I at least get to stay over at HQ tonight with Ella?" persisted Jaime.

"That's fine with me, but we gotta go find Katt," Star said hastily. "Let's go…"

She, Bill, Jaime and Ella all left without another word.

"Wow," said Lucy. "People come and go so quickly here."

"I was expecting a much bigger fuss," Gwen said.

"Well," Fox said matter-of-factly, "every family is related to the military one way or another. Star, Bill and Katt are all members of the army's council."

"Where's HQ?" asked Monica.

"That's where we stay whenever we're in town," said Slippy. "This reminds me…I better call a shuttle to deliver all our baggage."

Slippy hurried off as well. Lucy asked Fox, "Why does your little sister stay at HQ?"

Fox shrugged, "She likes it there. When we're not around, she stays with my mom's parents. Star has to work at night sometimes, so she can't be around to watch Jaime. Jaime also likes to drag Ella around. They share a room at HQ."

Falco nodded. "Ella and Jaime are inseparable. Typical 15-year-olds."

Gwen shrugged. "Same with us."

Slippy returned to the group. "Alrighty, I got a shuttle, let's head to HQ."

….

Corneria looked very similar to Jazeloone. People drove zoomers of different shapes, sizes and colors. The white-wash buildings were high, and the streets were clean. The doors to all buildings were sliding doors. Neighborhood homes had a friendly demeanor; most had bright red wooden doors, with welcome mats, and actually looked like houses. The residents of Corneria all seemed to dress the same – stray jackets, jumpsuits, army boots, occasional helmets and shades.

Lucy noticed this as they rode through downtown in their shuttle. She said aloud, "Why does everyone here dress the same? Anybody ever heard of 'individuality'?"

"Most people are connected to the military one way or another," Fox explained from the driver's seat. "Those who are part of the military have to follow a strict Code of Conduct, and it includes a certain dress code."

"That's stupid," Gwen injected.

"You get used to it," Peppy said.

Fox finally pulled the shuttle into a n actual driveway that led up to what resembled a large boarding house.

"Welcome to HQ, ladies," Peppy said, opening the side door with a push of a button and scooting out.

Gwen followed Peppy out the door. She stood beside the shuttle as her friends shuffled out, taking in the great expanse that was the Star Fox HQ. "Does the general stay here?" she asked.

"No," Slippy answered from the backend of the shuttle, pulling luggage out. "It's just us, along with Bill, Star, sometimes Jaime…and Katt."

Monica whirled around. "Katt lives here?"

"Yup," Falco said, grabbing his own bag from the ground where Slippy had deposited it.

"That's a lot of people," Lucy observed. "Plus us, that's 11 people. Are there enough rooms?"

"Well, lemme see…" Fox said. "Since Bill and I are captains, we have our own Captain's Quarters together. Peppy, Slippy and Falco each have their own rooms. Jaime bunks with Star whenever she comes over and Katt has her own room. That leaves two extra bedrooms, so…congratulations to whichever one of you who doesn't have to share a room."

The girls exchanged looks.

"We should handle this in a diplomatic way," Lucy said.

Gwen nodded. "Right." She held a coiled fist up in front of her. "Rock, paper, scissors on three. Ready?" Her friends stuck out their own fists.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Gwen and Monica beat Lucy's scissors with their rocks, then faced off again.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

Monica beat Gwen's paper with her scissors.

"Dammit," hissed Gwen.

"Falco, do you have the key?" Peppy called from the front door.

Falco approached the threshold, wielding what looked like a plastic credit card. Next to the doorbell, Falco swiped the card through a slit in a code box. The box beeped, and the front door unlatched. Falco turned the doorknob and walked inside.

"That's creative," Monica observed, raising her eyebrows as she and her friends followed the falcon inside.

"This is our living room," Slippy explained as they crossed the threshold.

The living room was surprisingly exquisite. There was a long white L-shaped couch in the middle, situated on a thin red rug that rested in a perfect rectangle over white tile. An armchair matching the couch sat across from the short side of the L. In front of the couch was a black coffee table with a direct view of a large plasma screen television. Immediately beside the front door was a stair case leading up to the second floor. On the opposite side of the room was a swinging door, and next to that was a black piano. There was also, in one corner, a stereo system with two loud speakers.

"Whoa," Monica said. "Y'all's electric bill must be high!"

Slippy shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really."

Instead of going upstairs, Slippy crossed the living room and headed toward the swinging door. The girls followed him to what turned out to be the kitchen. The kitchen was huge, with two ovens, a long marble breakfast bar, and a dinner table built for a dozen people. There was also a separate laundry room.

"Oh, my God," gasped Lucy at the site of the laundry room. "I'll be the washing machine actually _works_, too."

"Same with the dryer," Falco added with a grin.

"Y'all are, like, rich compared to us," Gwen said in awe.

The guys took them upstairs to the second floor. Fox explained, "Boys' rooms are on the second floor, girls' are on the third."

The girls found two vacant rooms by the staircase that led to the attic.

"Awesome," Lucy said, walking into one of the bedrooms.

"And you're right next to the bathroom!" Peppy hollered from the second floor.

The bathroom, once discovered, had four sinks in it with working faucets.

Monica called down the stairs excitedly, "Can we, like, _buy_ your home?"

"Uh, sure, Mon," Gwen answered for her. "Right after we actually have money, yes?"

Monica rolled her eyes.

Peppy spoke up from the base of the stairs on the second floor. "Just a tip, girls: do not entirely unpack because you'll never know when we'll have to go out on a mission."

"Thanks," Gwen called as she went into hers and Lucy's bedroom.

"We're all over the house if you need us," Peppy said before he disappeared down the hall of the second floor.


	16. Chapter 16

Fox was lounging on the sofa that evening when the front door suddenly opened and Jaime and Ella came flying into the house.

"Hi, Fox!"

"Hey, Fox!"

They disappeared into the kitchen. Star walked into the boarding house, holding the front door open behind her. "Jamesina McCloud, don't you dare start eating everything in there!"

"Yeah, Jamesina!" Bill called mockingly as he crossed the threshold with Katt, who rolled her eyes.

"Hi, everyone," Fox said with annoyance as his comrades crossed over into the kitchen.

He could soon hear bickering coming from the kitchen. Over all the voices, he could hear Peppy shout, "Girls, get away from my soup!"

This was followed by Katt shrieking, "Bill! Don't. Touch. My. Jacket! Look, you just stepped on it!"

Bill hollered back, "Well, what's it doing on the floor in the first place?"

"Star knocked it off the chair!" declared Katt.

"I so did not!" cried Star.

Falco's voice then implored, "Stop it! I can't even hear myself think!"

"Since when do you think?" Slippy sassed.

Fox got up from the couch, went into the kitchen, and bellowed, "QUIET!"

Everyone stopped and looked at him. Fox lividly said, "We have guests here, you know!"

Katt stared at him. "We do?"

"Monica, Gwen and Lucy," Fox replied. "Who else would it be?"

Katt gawked at him. "They're _staying_ here?"

"_Yes_," said an exasperated Fox.

Katt furrowed her brow as if she had just been insulted. "Where are they sleeping?"

"In the last two rooms," Fox told her. "Now, can we get some peace and quiet around here?"

He returned to the living room. Peppy resumed cooking dinner. Slippy headed back to the laundry room where he had been separating clothes. Falco went on reading the newspaper at the dinner table. Star left to take out the garbage. Jaime and Ella went bounding up the back staircase, and Katt decided to follow the two young kits.

Jaime led the way up to the third floor and headed to the end of the hallway. All three girls were in Monica's bedroom, sorting clothes.

"Hey," Jaime said brightly, welcoming herself into Monica's room. "Looks like we've got three new roomies."

The human girls smiled.

Ella said anxiously, "So, how did you three actually meet Fox and them?"

Katt, leaning in the doorway, said, "Yes, I'm anxious to hear that, too."

Lucy glanced uncertainly at Katt before saying, "They crashed in our backyard. We come from a planet called Tesserone."

"Actually," interrupted Gwen, "we come from Jazeloone, but Andross destroyed it."

Monica added, "There are very few of us left."

"You mean humans?" Jaime asked. "That sucks. Why did you three want to come here?"

"To help defeat Andross," Lucy said.

Katt harrumphed from the doorway. "Yeah, right. Good luck with that."

She marched off down the hall.

Monica asked the kits, "Is she always like that?"

Ella shrugged. "It's just Katt being Katt."

Jaime suddenly grabbed her friend's arm. "Eleanor, is our essay due tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ella replied.

"Crap!" hissed Jaime. "We gotta go…"

They hurried out of the room. Gwen raised her eyebrows at her friends. "At least those two like us…"

"I'm sure the other folks we've met just need to get used to us," assured Lucy.

Peppy's distant voice journeyed up the stairs, "DINNER!"

The girls hurried down to the kitchen where everyone was gathered, seating themselves at the table. Peppy began ladling soup into everyone's bowls."

Monica looked around the table. She was seated in between Gwen and Falco and across from a sullen Katt, who would not look her in the eye. At one end of the table was fox and, behind him, another plasma screen television.

Peppy seated himself at the opposite end of the table and announced, "Okay, since this is the first time in a while that we get to have a family dinner, I say it's time for a Happy Chat."

Bill and the rest of the Star Fox Team suddenly looked solemn. Lucy raised an eyebrow and said, "A what?"

Bill sighed, "An infamous tradition started by the wonderful Peppy Hare."

Peppy eyed at the greyhound before saying, "Here, I'll start…I'm happy that we've got new friends to eat with. Lucy, your turn."

Lucy just looked at him. "So…I say something that I am happy about?"

Peppy blinked. "Yes. Please."

"I'm glad to be here, too," she said quickly.

"And I'm glad I decided to come," Gwen said.

"I'm happy that I've got my friends here with me," Monica added.

"I'm just glad to be home," Falco said.

Star nodded. "Yes, and I'm grateful that you guys returned home safely.

She looked at her twin brother, who said, "I'm pleased to be here with my sisters again."

Jaime cheerfully said, "I'm glad that I get to spend the night here at HQ with my best friend."

"Me too," Ella agreed.

Katt thought before saying, "I'm happy about the new shirt I bought today."

Bill gazed at her. "That's what you're thankful for? A new shirt?"

Katt hissed, "Yes, Bill. It's pink."

"Like the rest of your clothes?"

The feline glared at him. Bill rolled his eyes before saying, "I'm thankful for Peppy for making us dinner."

"Likewise," Slippy said. "Alrighty, let's eat."

About 15 minutes into the dinner the plasma screen behind Fox's head suddenly turned on, and General Pepper's enlarged face appeared saying, "Good evening, all."

Gwen said, "'sup, General?"

Bill hissed at her from across the table, "You're not supposed to say that to him!"

Gwen offered him a dirty look. In return, Lucy shot her a warning look.

General Pepper ignored them. "Bill informed me a while ago that you three girls have fighting skills. That could be useful. So, if it is alright with Miss Monroe, I'd like it if you all came down to the Military Base to do some training."

Katt's eyes widened. "How does this involve me?"

"You'll be escorting them," Pepper said calmly. "You've got a class to take down there anyway…aren't you a student teacher at the flight academy?"

Katt grumbled, "Yes."

"Good, then it's settled," Pepper said. "I'll expect you there at 9 a.m. sharp."

Frowning, Gwen said, "How about noonish?"

"My class is at _9:30_," Katt told the redhead with annoyance.

"That will be all," Pepper said. "Pepper out." The screen went black.

….

At 7:45 a.m. Star called out from the living room, "Jaime! Ella! Time to go!"

Jaime and Ella came running down the stairs, backpacks bouncing upon their shoulders. Both were dressed in white button-downs and wearing khaki pants.

Gwen was lying on the couch next to Bill as he did a crossword puzzle. She was still in her pajamas, and nonchalantly asked Star, "Why do they get to do sleepovers on school nights? My mother wouldn't even let me have friends over for dinner."

As she pulled on her white jacket, Star said, "Actually, it works out better."

Gwen asked Ella, "Don't your parents mind?"

"No," Ella said simply.

"See ya!" Jaime called out, leading the way out the front door. Ella followed along with Star, who let out a loud sigh as she shut the door behind them.

Gwen said to Bill, "She's got cool parents if they let her stay over at a friend's house."

"Sure," Bill said flatly.

Gwen eyed at him. She reached for the plasma's television remote and hit the power button. The news appeared with a black female poodle serving as the reporter.

"Perhaps you have heard of it," she was saying, "it's made headlines and quite a stir on Corneria…humans have been spotted in our city."

Gwen's blue eyes suddenly doubled in size as a picture of her, Lucy and Monica suddenly appeared on screen. The picture had been taken when they first landed at the Cornerian airport.

"Yes, it's true, folks," the poodle said. "Humans are no longer a myth. They were last seen heading South on Left Wing Boulevard in a shuttle that was soon to be recognized as the Star Fox Team's jet."

Some footage of a flamingo and her two kids then rolled onto the screen. The mother said, "I can't believe that humans really do exist…are they safe?"

The poodle's voice said, "Authorities have already questioned researcher scientist Dr. Kelvin Phoenix down at the Corneria City Research Institute on whether or not the humans could be serious danger to the planet."

An old coyote came on the screen saying, "We've been trying to determine whether or not humans do exist over an extensive period of time. We can neither confirm nor deny that they are a real threat to us."

"That's a load of shit!" Gwen cried, causing Bill to jump.

"However," the poodle went on, "not everyone thinks the humans are unsafe."

A lizard sort of creature said, "Dude, if the Star Fox Team can trust them, why can't we?"

A red, feathered hand suddenly seized the microphone the lizard had been holding, and the face of what Gwen recognized as Falco's cousin Mel spoke directly into the camera. "Okay, my cousin is Falco Lombardi, who is a member of the Star Fox Team, and I personally believe can't figure out what the _–beep!—_he's doing with humans. We can't just welcome aliens onto Corneria! We're already in the middle of a war!"

Falco's cousin Dev decided to join Mel on camera. "Those humans should get the _–beep!—_off Corneria. We've got enough problems as it is."

The lizard grabbed the microphone back. "Well, why don't we just ask the humans what they want with us, man? How bad can three of them be?"

Mel shouted, "Ugh, what year are you living in? They probably just want us to think that! They all want the Lylat System to be destroyed by Andross! They're probably working for him!"

The lizard gave her a shove. Mel pounced on him. Before any more of the fight was seen, the poodle came back saying, "The humans will be further investigated by authorities until they come up with a conclusion. I'm Darcy Chien, reporting for Corneria Channel 5."

"AAAHHH!" Gwen screamed, jumping up from the couch so loudly that Bill fumbled with his newspaper. "I can't believe this! We've been here less than a day and we've already been _labeled_?"

Falco and Slippy came running in from the kitchen in bewilderment.

"What's wrong?" asked Slippy.

Gwen rounded on Falco and said, "Falco, I'm sorry, but I officially HATE your cousins!"

Monica and Lucy came running down the stairs to see what had happened as well. Bill explained, "Falco, your cousins were on the news just now. Some people don't think that humans are safe." He unrolled the rest of his newspaper. "It's on the front page, too."

The headline he held up read _Aliens among us_, followed by another picture of the girls.

"Well, that's rich," Lucy said acidly.

Falco said to Gwen, "I take it my cousins had something to say on the news?"

"Yup," replied Gwen. "Even though we've done _nothing _to them…"

Falco shrugged. "I'm sure they'll get over it."

Gwen didn't reply to this, but instead said, "I'm gonna hose off." She made a beeline for the stairs.


	17. Chapter 17

"Are we sure we want to do this?" Lucy asked Monica as they sat in a meeting room at the military base. They were seated at a long table, with Monica at one end, pen in hand, staring down at the last page of a fresh contract. General Pepper was sitting at the opposite end. There was a large computer screen behind him, and the Star Fox Team had crammed their heads to fit on screen.

After Katt had begrudgingly taken the human girls in for an intense workout at the base, General Pepper deemed it appropriate to produce a contract agreement that officially entailed the girls' help with the war effort. They would be considered "defensive arts experts."

"What's the big deal?" Slippy asked.

Lucy nervously twisted a black strand of hair around her finger. "I've always been scared of contracts…like loopholes."

General Pepper chuckled. "I can assure you, girls, I am a fair man. No tricks. This contract has everything you asked for…visits home, protection for Tesserone…what else is there?"

Monica replied, "I guess none. Safe now, Luc'?"

Lucy shrugged. "Hope so."

Gwen chirped up, "Sign away, Mon."

Smiling slightly, Monica searched the bottom of the last page where it read: "signatures." She took the pen and scribbled her full name, then handed the pen along to her comrades.

_Monica Eileen Krane_

_Gwenivere Ashlyn Margo_

_Lucille Winifred Ferns_

"Okay, then," General Pepper said when Lucy put the pen down. "I believe Miss Monroe is waiting out in the hall for your ride. Thank you, ladies."

Gwen led the way out to the hall where Katt was pacing.

"Finally!" she cried when she saw them. "Can we get moving _this_ year?"

She wasted no time in strutting off in the direction of the parking lot. The girls had to hurry to keep up with her.

….

"So, you think we did the right thing?" Lucy asked that night as they stood in the bathroom, washing faces and preparing for bed.

Monica stopped flossing in order to say with annoyance, "_Yes,_ Lucille. Okay?"

Lucy frowned at herself in the mirror. "What if something bad happens to us?"

"Like what?" Gwen asked as she rubbed a damp washcloth over her face.

"Like one of us getting killed," Lucy said bluntly.

Monica began to rinse off her hands. "If you're so worried, why did you come?"

"Because…" Lucy realized she could not finish the sentence.

"I have an idea why," grumbled Monica, drying her hands on a towel. "Because of me."

She threw Lucy a dirty look as she left the bathroom. Lucy eyed over at Gwen, who had just begun gargling. Gwen spat out the blue mouthwash before saying, "She's got a point, you know. You were the one who wanted to go because otherwise she was going to be here all by herself."

Lucy glared at the redhead in the mirror. Gwen merely shrugged. "I'm just sayin'."

After Gwen had left, Lucy snatched her toothbrush and vigorously began to scrub her teeth. Star entered the bathroom, raising an eyebrow at Lucy. "Are your teeth clean enough?"

Lucy spat out some foam. "No."

Katt strolled in, glaring at Lucy. "Finished yet?"

Lucy scrubbed her hands clean. "Why, Katt? There are three other sinks in this bathroom."

"You're at _my _sink," Katt growled.

Lucy rolled her eyes and stepped aside, drying off her hands using one of the rags from the towel rack on the wall. Katt moved into Lucy's spot, slamming a bag full of cosmetics into the faucet without noticing. The faucet suddenly started to drip.

Katt lividly tried turning the knobs to make it stop. "Shit!"

"Chillax," Lucy said. "Just hit it with a hammer, that's all."

Fox's voice suddenly called from the hall. "Are you decent?"

Star said, "Yeah."

Fox poked his head into the bathroom. "Katt, Star: Bill wanted me to remind you that you guys are having lunch tomorrow at the council banquet."

"Fine," sighed Star.

Suddenly, Jaime came running past her brother, eyes wide with apparent fear. "Star, Ella just called me. She said that she found her mom…you know…again."

Star nodded. "It's okay, Jaime, I'm coming."

"Need any backup?" Fox asked.

"I think I got it," Star said as he and Jaime hurried down the hall.

Katt followed, saying, "I'll go find a freaking hammer…"

Lucy looked at Fox with concern. "What's wrong with Ella's mom?"

"She's probably passed out from drinking in their living room or something," Fox replied.

Lucy just looked at him, so he went on. "Ella kinda has a messed up family. Her dad is a well-respected captain of one of our aircraft carriers. His name is Bosse Contour. He is almost never home. His wife Sierra is a washed up alcoholic. She's just a deadbeat mom."

"That's rough."

"Well, on top of that," Fox said, "Ella's one of seven siblings – she's third-oldest. Her older brother has moved out of the house and her older sister is just like Sierra. So Ella takes care of her four younger siblings.

"No wonder she likes staying here with Jaime," Lucy said.

Fox shrugged. "It's not surprising."

Before he could say anymore, Katt returned with a hammer.

"Sorry to interrupt your little pow-wow," she said curtly.

Fox rolled his eyes over at Lucy, who obscured her jollity by covering her mouth with a hand.

Katt gave the leaky faucet a mild hit with the hammer. The dripping stopped almost instantly.

Lucy grinned. "Voila!"

Katt grumbled, "Whatever. Don't you have someplace else to be?"

Fox said innocently, "No, not really."

Katt snapped, "Then do you _mind_? I'm trying to prepare for my beauty sleep!"

"Beauty sleep?" laughed Fox. "You'd have to sleep for, like, a month."

With a murderous glint in her eye, Katt said, "I see you've been hanging out with Falco."

Fox raised an eyebrow. "What's he got to do with anything?"

"Just sounds like something he'd say," Katt replied, squeezing a tube full of gel into an open paw. "He always says crap like that. He thinks he's so funny."

She rubbed the gel between both paws and began stroking them through the silvery whiskers on her face. "I can't stand that stupid bird sometimes."

Fox said simply, "Maybe that's why he dumped you."  
>"Get out already!" Katt shrieked.<p>

"Hey!" came Gwen's voice from down the hall. "Keep it down to a whisper, will ya!"

"Yeah, really!" Monica hollered.

"I'm tired anyway," Lucy announced. "Goodnight, all."

When she had gone, Katt said with exasperation, "Finally! I've just about had it with those girls."

Fox furrowed his brow. "You don't even know them."

"I don't want to know them."

"Why?" demanded Fox. "You think you're better than them?"

"I _am _better than them!" Katt growled. "They're nothing like me, and I don't want to have anything to do with them."

Fox, eyeing at the pink feline, said, "I take it back…maybe _this_ is why Falco dumped you."

He was gone before Katt could make a comeback.


	18. Chapter 18

Over the course of two weeks, everything began to occur routinely. Ella and Jaime went to school, slept over at HQ occasionally, and toured the mall on weekends together. The human girls kept on going to the military base to work out and train, usually escorted by the disgruntled Katt. Star would sometimes accompany them to practice her knife/gun fighting skills at the gym. Bill kept himself busy with work while bickering with Gwen, who found pleasure in tormenting him. Monica and Lucy found solstice in talking to Falco and Fox, respectively. Peppy assisted Slippy in tending to the almost-fully-repaired Arwings.

One evening, the group found themselves lounging in the living room.

"I hate council banquets," Star whined as she flipped through in the armchair. "We have too many."

"Well, I hate being bored," Fox said, who was reading the newspaper as he laid on the L of the couch. "It's been two weeks since we've anything."

"At least you don't have homework," Jaime said as she and Ella did homework on the coffee table.

Peppy came in from the kitchen with a tray of cut up bread. He placed it on the table behind the couch while saying to the younger girls, "Think of your homework as a way to expand your horizons."

Ella rolled her eyes. "Sounds wicked boring."

"Is everything boring in the house?" Falco asked as he sat in between Monica and Lucy on the portion of the couch perpendicular to Fox.

"Evidently," muttered Gwen, who sat at Lucy's feet as the ravenhead braided her hair.

Just then, Bill came walking down the stairs, talking on his cell phone. "I'm sorry, Mona," he was saying. "Not, it's not you…no…I didn't say that! Of course…well…okay…no, I understand totally but…no, wait! Mona? _Mona_?"

Bill hissed "_Shit_!" as he hung up his cell phone. Crossing his arms he said, "I think I just got dumped."

"Sorry, man," said Slippy, who was folding clothes on the floor.

"I don't know what I did wrong," Bill said, beginning to pace. "I thought everything was going great until yesterday."

"Why's that?" Fox asked.

Bill frowned. "Well, she's been sick for a few days now. I called her yesterday to check on her, and she said, 'You know, some hot soup would be nice.'"

"What did you say?" Falco said.

"I said, 'Yeah, it probably would. You should get some.' Then I hung up."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Well, DUH! She wanted _you _to bring her some soup!"

Bill cocked his head in confusion. "Huh? No, she didn't…she didn't say that."

"Of course, she didn't!" cried Gwen.

Bill blinked. "Well, why didn't she just ask me directly?"

"She wanted to see how much you liked her," Gwen replied.

"That's so stupid!"

"No," Gwen said matter-of-factly. "She can't just ask if you like her. She was dropping hints."

"Again – that's stupid," declared Bill. "How in the world was I supposed to figure that out? I'm not a mind-reader."

Gwen said, "Listen for hints, bud. We drop them everywhere."

"It's true, Bill," Monica spoke up with a sad smile.

"Oh, sure!" snapped Bill, right as Katt came down the stairs. He rounded on her and said, "Katt, how do girls try to figure out how much guys like them?"

Katt blinked. "We drop hints. Duh."

Bill stared at her. "Girls are so screwed up."

Katt merely smiled. "I take it Mona just dumped you?"

Bill's chest swelled up. He said defiantly, "It's no big deal…she was just the most…amazing, beautiful Cocker spaniel I ever met…and now it's over…just because of some soup…"

Bill made a beeline for the kitchen. Fox hollered after him, "C'mon, Bill, take it like a man…"

Katt rolled her eyes once he was gone. "He's _so_ pathetic."  
>Before anyone could say anymore, the television screen turned on by itself, and General Pepper appeared before everyone.<p>

"Good evening," he said in an uneasy tone.

"Evening, General," Peppy responded.

The general looked about the scene in front of him. "Where's Captain Grey? He needs to hear this as well."

Slippy hollered, "Bill! Quit crying over Mona and get in here!"

Bill returned from the kitchen – giving Slippy a menacing look.

"Everything alright, Grey?" Pepper asked.

Fox made room for Bill on the couch. "He just got dumped, sir."

Bill gawked at him. "Alright, well, let's just tell all of Corneria, Fox!"

"ANYWAY," Pepper said loudly. "I have a mission for you.

"I'm sending you to Sector Y near Venom's air space. If we destroy the satellite, Andross may lose his connections throughout the Lylat System."

"Along with Tesserone?" Lucy asked hopefully.

"Perhaps," replied Pepper. "And from there, we should be able to get into Venom and defeat Andross himself."

"The last hurrah," Fox observed. "But, General, why do you seem bothered by this? We've dealt with Andross's scum before."

"That isn't what's troubling me," said the general. "It's what I need Misses Krane, Margo and Ferns to do."

The girls nervously considered the general.

"I'll be needing you three to infiltrate Andross's lair, and be able to give Star Fox the whereabouts of the ape if he is inside his fortress so that we can drop a bomb on him – literally. You girls will need to figure out a fast route out of there so you don't get hurt as well."

"But, General," Monica said, "why us?"

"That's the way it has to be, Miss Krane."

Monica frowned. The general said, "I would not send you on this mission if I did not think you could handle it.

"The Arwings are in proper condition as of late," Pepper went on. "I'll be in touch. Pepper out."

The screen went black and the room fell silent; a child laughing could be heard from two doors down.

"Wow," Star finally said flatly. "A new mission."

Katt, looking irritated, folded her arms across her chest and said, "And…what are Bill, Star and I supposed to do? Monitor the hallway?"

Slippy, piling his clothes neatly, said, "I'm sure he'll give you three some sort of assignment, Katt. Just chill."

"So much for being bored," Fox said, leaning back on the couch."

Falco nodded in agreement. Then, putting on a pouty expression, he said, "That sucks. I've enjoyed being bored."

"This is freaky, y'all," Gwen said shakily, her eyes wide with fear. "We've only been training for two weeks."

"Plus the fact that we've never fought in the real world," added Lucy. "Aside from fighting Triple-D…but Kylie and Mindy didn't put up much of a fight."

Peppy said to Bill, "Anything you want to add?"

Bill whined pitifully. "I miss Mona! I can't believe it's really, truly over! And all over some fucking soup!"

Fox said sternly, "Listen, Bill, I'm saying this because you're my friend and my partner…you've GOT to move on, man."

With a pitiful frown, Bill said, "I never thought I'd be so unhappy to be single."

"It's not that bad," Falco said with a shrug. "I like it."

Katt glared at the falcon, but the glare went unnoticed.

"Okay, everyone," Star announced, standing up. "We've got stuff to do. Fox, get a shuttle ready to move our stuff. Katt, tell your professors you're leaving with us. Ella and Jaime, pack up anything you have in my room. And Bill…get a grip, already!"

Bill just sulked.

"Alrighty, let's get moving," Star said, ushering Jaime and Ella up the stairs.

….

"Okay," Bill was saying as he stood outside Great Fox with an uninterested Katt, "let's go over this again…"

Katt rolled her eyes. Their comrades were already on board the ship. Bill and Katt's job was to run a check list on take-off preparations.

"Everyone here and accounted for?" Bill read out loud to Katt from off of his clipboard.

"Check," she mumbled, and Bill scratched it off the list.

"Arwings in lock mode?"

"Check," sighed Katt.

"All computers are currently shut down?"

"Check."

"All weaponry has been stored into their locked compartments?"

"Oh, check, check, CHECK, Bill!" Katt yelled with irritation. "You sound like you're arranging deck chairs at a hotel!"

"Hey!" argued Bill. "You were the one whining about not having anything to do on here, remember? So, here ya go – we've got a job."

"This," Katt hissed, tapping Bill's clipboard with a sharp claw, "is not a job. It's pitiful – and so are you!"

"Ooh," Bill said sarcastically, lifting the shades of his helmet to eye at the feline. "Is that why you mock me every chance you get and call me a douche behind my back?"

Katt glared at him. "Pardon me – I don't use that word." She began to climb up the ramp leading into the Docking Bay. Over her shoulder she called, "You probably heard it from that red-haired human."

"Gwen?" cried Bill, incredulously.

"Oh, is that her name?" Katt said nonchalantly. "Humph. She seems to like pestering you. Maybe she has a _thing_ for you."

"You, you would know," Bill snapped. "You're the one who busies herself by studying the male/female dynamic because you're bored with your own lame life. Don't you have anything better to do?"

"I like shopping," Katt offered sweetly as she disappeared from the top of the ramp.

Bill half-laughed to himself, "Yeah…that, and chasing after Falco."

….

After Bill finished up the checklist – by himself – he gave the pilots the okay to takeoff from Corneria.

Once airborne, Bill called for a meeting with the human girls. When they had assembled in the meeting room, Bill whipped out a duffel bag, and after unzipping it pulled up a rolled up scroll of paper. He spread it out before the girls on the table before snatching a red marker out of his pocket and popping off its top.

"Okie dokie," he said, all business-like. "Our last encounter with Andross was in 2951, when General Pepper sent the original Star Fox team to Venom after banishing that damn ape in hopes of defeating him. Of course, this is where Fox's father died and Pigma Dengar betrayed the team and only Peppy escaped. Part of their mission, though, was to infiltrate Andross's lair and smuggle anything we could use against him, such as chemical formulas, tapes from surveillance cameras, documentaries, etc. Peppy managed to bring back these blueprints of Andross's underground fortress."

The girls looked at the first page of the blueprints. It was covered in confusing scratches and lines and arrows that pointed nowhere.

Lucy frowned. "Bill, how are we supposed to read this? We're not contractors."

"I'm aware of that, Lucy," Bill snapped. "But look, it's not that hard…this is a hallway…" he traced a rectangular area with his marker. "And this at the end of it is a flight of stairs leading downward…" A new red line formed over a series of bars. "And this is a utility closet on the opposite end." He scribbled his maker over an empty square.

Gwen stubbornly tapped her finger in the middle of the page, saying, "Okay, smartass, what's with all the friggin' numbers?"

"Those are _measurements_," Bill pressed. "Like the one you just pointed out says six feet, three inches…that's how long that portion of the wall is."

"Why are there quotation marks and apostrophes, then?" Gwen demanded.

"An apostrophe after a number indicates it's a measurement in feet. Quotations indicate inches," Bill explained. "But that shouldn't be important right now. You just need to worry about finding your way through this place without getting caught."

Monica eyed at him. "You expect us to just waltz in there and steal stuff?"

Bill sighed in frustration. "_No_, of course not. I think your best bet would be to use the vents."

Lucy scanned the page laid out before her. "Are the vents visible on this page?"

"Nope," Bill said, flipping over the first page and revealing a second one that contained fewer lines.

"These vents are located above the hallway I just showed you," Bill explained. "More floors and hallways and vents are shown throughout this entire packet."

Bill hesitated before saying, "I can't be with you guys when you are inside. Nobody can. It's up to you. You're gonna have to take these blueprints along with you so you can tell us where to target the bomb on Andross. There will be other bombs planted around as well to insure this defeat, so you will have a limited time to get out."

"Where will you guys be?" Monica asked.

"We'll be fighting Andross's bogies," Bill replied. "Not just the Star Fox team, either, like, _all _of us – my Husky and Bulldog Units. Even Katt and Star."

Bill flipped another page of the blueprints. "Alright, so let's talk about emergency maneuvers…"


	19. Chapter 19

Monica lay on the bed in her room later that night aboard Great Fox, gazing at the view of nothingness that was her wall. She absent-mindedly stretched her hand up under her head and pillow, feeling for the picture that she took with her wherever she went.

By the dim light that was caste by the small lamp on her metal nightstand, Monica could see the faces of her missing family. They were all grinning back at her – including the 12-year-old version of herself. Her parents Eileen and Henry were embracing each other between the bright summer sun rays that were leaking through the branches of a towering tree. Monica's older brother Drake, then 14, had been sitting on the ground at his parents' feet, with dark eyes and careless brown hair, and a slanted smile because he had not wanted to be in the picture. Monica was crouching next to Drake, her arms around their much-younger brother Louis, who was six years old in the picture. Louis was cheesing with extreme vigor so that his eyes were squinted.

All the Krane boys had the same brown hair as their dad. Monica inherited the dirty blonde physique from her mother. The picture had been taken after church one day, Monica remembered; they were still in their Sunday attire – even Louis, who was wearing the typical little suit and tie that his parents always had to force him to wear every weekend. Drake was going through a somewhat rebellious stage at that time, taking off his suit jacket and rolling the sleeves of his button-down shirt up to his elbows – a habit that both parents fussed at him about. Drake had also loosened his tie in the picture, always complaining that it "strangled" him. Monica had a makeup-less face – her mom had made it a rule that there would be no using of makeup until she was 16 years old. However, Eileen compromised by letting Monica borrow her pearl necklace for church occasionally. This picture had been taken on one of those days.

Every time Monica looked at the picture, it surprised her how much she was beginning to resemble her mother more and more each day.

Above all, every time she looked at the picture, her heart broke all over again.

"Hey, guys," she said to the picture.

"You okay?" came a voice all of sudden.

"AAAHHH!" Monica shrieked as she sat upright on her bed. Falco looked startled, jumping back a step in the doorway.

"Sorry…" he said.

Monica hastily stuffed the picture back underneath her pillow, trying to smile nonchalantly at the falcon. "Hey…sorry…"

Falco smiled sheepishly. "You…sleep with a picture of your family under your pillow?"

Monica felt the blood rush to her face. "Yes…"

Falco's smile widened. "And you talk to them?"

Trying to ignore the knot in her throat, Monica replied, "Yeah, when I miss them, I do."

"It's not something to be embarrassed about," Falco told her. "I do it, too."

Raising her eyebrows, Monica said, "Really?"

Falco nodded and held up one finger to indicate Monica to wait before he walked out of the room. When he returned, he handed Monica a photo and sat down beside her on the bed.

In the picture, a blue falcon – Monica assumed it was Falco's father – was holding the hand of a dark-red falcon. They were standing outside the green front door of a brick house, smiling at each other – not the camera.

Monica gushed, "Awwww."

"That's the house I grew up in," Falco said. "It was taken when they came back from their honeymoon."

Monica asked, "What were their names?"

"Talon and Scarlett."

Monica closely examined Scarlett, and although the race was entirely different and not understood, she could see the faintest humanistic characteristics in the female falcon's face. Her eyes were glued to her husband, looking at him what Monica could tell was intense endearment. The curved smile in her beak showed the same warmth Eileen had when she looked at Henry. From just her eyes and smile, Monica could see an odd resemblance between Eileen and Scarlett.

Falco suddenly took the picture from Monica's hand. He harrumphed and said, "Well, I wish they could have seen more of that house, but they were not around a lot. They were very career-driven."

Monica frowned. "Nothing's wrong with following your dream…they didn't know what would happen."

Falco turned his head and spoke as if he was admitting this to himself. "I hated them for not being around. I was at my dad's parents' house when we found out…the guy from the Union came and my grandma told me to go to my room, but I wanted to hear so I hid in the closet under the stairs…I turned into a bit of a jerk after that day."

Falco squirmed. "I still feel mad about it."

Monica nodded. "I get mad, too." When Falco said nothing she went on, "Mom woke me up in the middle of the night…told me we had to go, and to pack just a few things. So I grabbed a bag, stuffed in some clothes, my photos and CDs, and then I went outside and saw nothing but a blood-red sky. I ran out into the hallway and Mom and Dad were like, 'Drake, get your brother and sister and GET OUT!'"

Monica stole a glance from Falco. "We made it as far as the bottom of the front steps when Drake told me to take Louis outside because he wanted to help Mom and Dad. Louis ran outside, made it into the street, and people were everywhere…there were houses on fire and these little black jets were shooting…some people got shot…" Monica felt a familiar nausea consume her stomach but she kept going. "One of the jets shot at my house and it just burst into flames, but I just took Louis and ran…I don't know what happened to Louis…one second he was with me, the next he was gone. Someone grabbed me and put me on a jet that escaped Jazeloone. I looked and looked for Louis, and I looked for him some more when we landed on Tesserone…never found him."

Monica took a deep breath to resist the tears that stung her eyes. Falco nodded understandingly. "None of it is your fault."

"I know," Monica said (though she left out the fact it took her years to accept that).

"At least you didn't turn out to be a jerk afterward," Falco told her.

Monica chuckled. "I'm glad you think so."

"I know so," Falco persisted. "I mean, look at me."

"You and your friends have been nothing but nice to me," she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't believe that."

"Well, I'm still awesome," Falco said casually, getting up from Monica's bed.

Monica laughed as he headed to the door. Over his shoulder, Falco called, "By the way, Bill wants to go over how to use the radio with you and your friends in the morning."

"Alright, thanks."

Falco disappeared down the hall.

….

"Jaime, you're just gonna have to deal with it," Fox said into his cell phone the following morning in the galley. "You just can't buy things off of Grandpa's credit card."

Slippy and Bill chuckled from the breakfast table. Fox gave them a murderous look. Back into his cell phone he said to his little sister, "I'm telling you, you should know better!"

Star entered the room with a look of concern, right as Fox said, "They have every right to ground you – you're living with them!"

Star rolled her eyes. "What did she do now?"

Fox put a hand over the mouthpiece to say to his twin, "She bought a computer using Grandpa's credit card."

Star snatched the cell phone away and yelled into it, "Jaime! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

Katt took a sip of coffee before murmuring, "She's dead…"

Slippy and Bill chuckled again. Peppy hissed over his newspaper, "Honestly, you two, it's not funny! Star and Fox have enough to worry about without their sister causing all sorts of trouble."

Lucy, who was sitting on the couch with Gwen, called over her shoulder, "Does she do stuff like this often?"

"Pretty much," Bill snorted. "She and Ella scope out kids who they call 'bullies' at school and stick chewed up gum on their lockers."

"Jaime, don't you dare talk to me like that!" Star shouted over the phone. After a pause she said, "I'm aware that I'm not your mother! But I don't…Jaime? Jaime, don't you hang up on me! Argh!"

She turned off the cell phone and practically threw it back to Fox, who said to his friends, "I didn't know she stuck gum on kids' lockers!"

Bill said, "Fox, it's no better than you, me and Falco giving kids swirlies back when we were in school."

Slippy looked wounded. "I was one of those kids."

Bill solemnly returned to his breakfast. Star angrily started scrubbing dishes in the sink.

Peppy eyed at Star and mumbled, "Let's give her some air…"

The boys and Gwen filed out of the room, but Lucy lingered behind, watching Fox approach his sister and whisper to her, "We're doing fine, she'll get better, I promise…"

"I'm just so sick of it – we should be staying with her more often!" Star said.

"I know, I know…"

"Lucy," a sharp voice suddenly said.

Lucy looked and saw Peppy on the opposite side of the room, looking at her expectantly.

"It's okay, Peppy," Fox told him. "She's not bothering anyone."

Peppy pressed his lips together uncertainly, but turned on his heel and left the galley.

Star paid Lucy no attention as she busied herself in the kitchen, and then abruptly told Fox she was going to check on her ship in the docking bay.

When Star was gone, Fox just looked at Lucy. "What's up?"

Lucy, not quite sure what to say, merely squirmed. "Uh…I'm sorry about Jaime…I'll be that's really frustrating for you and Star…"

Fox just looked at her some more.

"I think you guys have done well, sticking together and all," Lucy offered.

Fox shrugged. "Yeah, well, it's not like we have much of a choice. Siblings gotta look after each other."

Lucy nodded, then thought back to the last time she saw Zoë and Delaney, and suddenly missed them.

"Hey," she spoke up. "Is there a way I can make a call back to Tesserone from here?"

….

Gwen found Lucy in the control room 15 minutes later, pushing miscellaneous buttons and pulling switches on a panel.

"Holy crap," Gwen laughed. "Nerd alert!"

Lucy offered her a dirty look as she tried to focus on the panel.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked, taking the seat next to her.

"Contacting home," replied Lucy. "Fox told me how."

Gwen blinked. "_Told_ you? He didn't _show_ you how to work this shit?"

"Shh!" hissed Lucy as she suddenly leaned forward, slowly turning a dial that caused the sound of static that could be heard from a loudspeaker to get louder. When she had turned the dial all the way, the sound of a telephone ringing could be heard. After two rings, a man's voice said, "Hello?"

Lucy pressed down a button and said into a microphone, "Dad?"

"Lucy?" came her reply. "I'll be damned!"

Lucy laughed happily. "Yay, it worked!"

"How are you?" her dad asked eagerly. "You alright? What are you doing?"

"Oh, just chillin' with Gwen," Lucy said nonchalantly.

Gwen cheerfully said into the microphone, "Hi, Mr. Ferns, how are you?"

"Fine, Gwen, thanks," Riley said. "Where are you girls?"

"In the control room of Great Fox," Lucy said. "We're going on a mission."

"Really? What's that?"

"To blow up Andross."

"Oh, wow, um….that's….not a good thing to tell your mother."

Lucy laughed. "Are Zoë and Delaney there?"

"Yeah, lemme put one of them on…"

Clicking could be heard in the background. After a moment a small girl's voice said, "Hi, Lucy!"

"Hey, Zoë, what's up?"

"You're in _The Daily Flyer_ again," replied Zoë. "Everyone's wondering where you guys are."

"Just chillin' in space at the moment," Gwen informed matter-of-factly.

Lucy, however, frowned. "What did Mom say about it?"

"Um, she's gone back to gardening, if ya know what I mean," Zoë replied, and Lucy immediately understood.

When Lucy was 5 years old and living on Jazeloone, her maternal grandmother, with whom her mom was very close, suffered a stroke and died. The day after her funeral Winnie bough flower seeds and gardening tools, and began a garden in the backyard. As time went on, she became less and less involved. But when Lucy was 9 her paternal grandfather died and Riley secluded himself, resulting in Winnie buying more seeds.

At the time when newspapers began printing about Andross's threats on Jazeloone, Winnie started planting tomatoes. When the invasion was over and Riley had built his family their new cottage on Tesserone, Winnie began a new garden; by the end of the first year she was making salads for neighbors.

Gardening was Winnie's cure-all, her way of easing nerves, like what singing did for Lucy and her friends.

Gardening was not a good sign from Winnie.

"What's she planting?" Lucy now asked.

"I think she's attempting flowers," Zoë replied. "She won't even take a break for food."

"Great," mumbled Lucy. "She's gardening _and _she's fasting."

"Hey, Delaney wants to talk to you," Zoë said, and suddenly "Loozy!" came through the loudspeaker.

"Hi, Delaney," sang Lucy. "How are you?"

"I'm wearing sunglasses."

"Really."

"I-I look cool."

"Well, good," laughed Lucy. "Can you find Mommy?"

"Mommy won't come inside," Delaney said dutifully. "She likes flowers."

"Oh," Lucy said flatly. "So I've heard. Can you put Daddy on?"

"Loozy, when you coming home?" Delaney said with a pout in her voice.

"You'll seen me soon," Lucy sighed. "Tell me bye-bye and put Dadd on the phone, okay?"

"Okay, bye-bye."

After a moment Riley's voice said, "Hi, honey."

"Hey," she said. "So…Mom's gardening?"

"Don't worry about her, hon," Riley said. "You just do what you gotta do and come home soon, alright?"

"Okay," Lucy said.

"I'm glad you called, baby."

"It's no problem, I can call again."

"Good. Love you, sweetie."

"Love you too."

They said goodbye and Lucy pushed a button to end the conversation. Then she looked over at Gwen.

Gwen was slouching in her seat, arms folded across her chest, blue eyes fixated on absolutely nothing. She didn't blink, nor move, as Lucy watched her – Gwen did not even acknowledge her.

"Gwen?" Lucy said softly. "You okay?"

Gwen's eyes moved so that she was looking away.

"You wanna call home?" Lucy offered. "I can do it for you, I don't mind…"

Gwen solemnly said, "I can't call home."

"Why not?"

Gwen shook her head. "I just don't think it's a good idea. They probably don't even care I'm gone."

"Yes, they do," Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "Your parents are probably worried sick."

Shrugging, the redhead said, "Maybe." She got up from her chair. "I'm gonna go see what Monica's doing."

Before Lucy could protest, Gwen quickly eluded the control room.


	20. Chapter 20

Gwen made it as far as her bedroom when Bill and Katt saw her, face flushed, reaching out a hand to press the button on the wall that opened the door.

"Hey," Bill called out to her, puzzled, right as Gwen choked and shut the door.

Bill stopped in the hall – so abruptly that Katt actually had to go back for him. She raised an eyebrow at Bill. "What?"

"She's crying…" Bill said with a furrowed brow.

Katt blinked. "And…?"

Bill tossed her a dirty look as he walked to the bathroom. Katt retreated down the hallway, mumbling "Pathetic" just loud enough for Bill to hear.

"Gwen?" Bill rapped on the bathroom door. "What's up?"

When Gwen said nothing, Bill pushed the button on the wall and allowed himself into Gwen's room. The redhead was mopping her face with old t-shirt, wiping at the smeared eyeliner that was running down her face.

"What's going on?" Bill asked her.

Gwen looked at him, and by the upset look in her blue eyes Bill was sure she was about to order him to leave, but instead she said, "Do you have a family back on Corneria?"

Bill leaned against the threshold of her bedroom door, narrowing his eyes. "Yeah…my parents are divorced. Mom's re-married and I have two younger half-brothers from her. Dad's got a girlfriend. I have my younger brother Cliff, too – he is Jaime and Ella's age."

Gwen nodded. "So, you know what it's like having a big family."

Bill shrugged. "I'm not home a lot to really know…I'm stationed on the planet Kantina. Is it a problem for you?"

Gwen sniffed. "I've got three younger siblings. It's so annoying. My parents forget about me a lot."

Bill rolled his eyes. "Gwen, I'm sure that's not true."

Gwen said, "Lucy moved out of her house because she doesn't get along with her mother – she's lucky Winnie even notices her. I'd like my mother to care about what I do sometimes. Debby was this awesome star child who always made her parents proud. Gretch is an only child. Devil Cameron just always got what she wanted. And Monica…well, you know about Monica."

Gwen wiped her face again with the t-shirt – now stained with eyeliner. "I didn't even bother saying good-bye to my folks. I don't talk about it a lot with my friends because, you know, Monica and all…it makes her feel bad."

Bill nodded understandingly. "You're a trouper."

"Thanks," she half-laughed.

"Your parents can't forget about you," Bill said. "Consider things from their point of view: after the invasion on Jazeloone, they had to start over with no money, no home, and four kids. That's gotta blow. It's only been six years…it can't possibly be an easy lifestyle back there. Your parents gotta keep it together for your little siblings…I bet your family is pretty strong."

Gwen snorted. "You've never met them."

"I don't need to meet them," Bill said. "I already know you."

All the blood rushed into Gwen's face. She smiled. "I do believe you just complimented me…"

"Yeah, yeah, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Bill joked.

Gwen chuckled. After a moment Bill broke the awkward silence by saying, "Should we hug or something?"

"No."

"Okay, good."

Gwen shyly gestured toward the rest of her room. "I'm not, you know…kicking you out, though."

Bill raised his eyebrows. "Thanks…I guess."

Bill stepped around Gwen as she shut her bedroom door behind him.

….

If there was one thing everyone aboard Great Fox had in common, it was the love they had for families. Star and Fox kept working at communicating with Jaime over the phone, and occasionally checked on Ella's household out of courtesy.

Katt was usually found chatting with her mother on her own phone as she lounged, suggestively, near Falco while the falcon himself kept in touch with relatives who called to check on him.

Lucy called home every day, debating whether or not to ask for Winnie. Gwen would sit near her, pondering if she should get ahold of her own parents. Monica talked with Lily Sue at night before she went to bed.

In Katt's opinion, it appeared that the human girls had nothing better to do on Great Fox than to shed tears. Katt was the only one who had not had a meltdown yet and was "getting tired of all the fucking drama!" So, one evening, she barged into the Galley, landed two paper bags on the kitchen table in front of Fox, Falco and Slippy, and announced, "I'm throwing a party."

Fox blinked. "A party," he repeated flatly.

Katt placed two pink paws on her hips. "Yes. A party."

From the couch, Bill began clicking through television channels with the remote. He called over his shoulder, "Is it someone's birthday?"

"_No_," Katt snarled. "You don't need a birthday in order to have a party, _duh_."

Peppy, fast asleep in an armchair, snored loudly. Star was sitting on the floor next to him, flipping through a magazine. Without looking up she said, "Katt, why are we having a party?"

"Because I said so."

Star rolled her eyes. "We don't have anything to 'party' with."

Katt reached into one of the bags she had placed on the table and pulled out a pack of beer first, followed by a large, clear bottle of what looked like water – the label read _Furr_.

Wide-eyed, Fox said, "_Shit_!"

Falco joined, "You've been holding out on us!"

"I'm a very bad girl," Katt said.

Star and Bill were now walking over in awe.

"Boy," Bill said. "Can't remember the last time I saw any of _that_!"

Slippy glanced nervously over at Peppy, still snoring in his chair. "Won't we get in trouble?"

"Not if you don't wake him _up_!" Katt hissed.

"Someone should go get Monica and them," Falco said.

The feline blinked. "Why?"

"I'll get 'em," Star said, already turning toward the automatic door.

"No, Star!" Katt hissed some more. "Don't ruin the fun –"

Star did not have to go far; the door opened and all three girls strolled in.

"What's up?" Gwen said.

The girls' eyes immediately landed on the drinks.

"Oh, pour me a glass!" Monica chimed. Lucy elbowed her. "Are you nuts? You can't have _that_!"

Monica frowned. "Why?"

"What if General Pepper finds out?"

"Food!" Falco cried happily, pulling chips out of Katt's other bag.

"You guys!" Lucy said, stomping one foot.

"Have a drink and chill," Bill said, handing a beer can out to Gwen.

"Oh, I don't drink," Gwen said.

"Oh, wow," Katt said, then she started laughing. "You're _kidding_, right?"

Gwen looked sheepish. "Never tried it…my parents would _kill_ me –"

"You don't talk to them, remember?" Katt said. "Do it."

"Gwenivere Ashlyn Margo, don't even THINK it!" Lucy growled.

"It's just _one _drink," Bill said. "What's the big deal?"

….

Fox was groggily opening and closing his eyes as he sat against the wall, limbs lying flat and lifeless, trying to stay awake. In his lap, Lucy had laid her head, and was cringing at the taste of Furr that still lingered in her mouth. Fox was rubbing her arm.

In the kitchen, Falco watched Monica dance to music that did not exist. Falco, staggering slightly, walked over to her, took her by the waist, and pulled her into his lap as he dropped down into a chair. He wrapped his arms around her saying, "Chill before you break something."

On the other side of the table, Slippy hiccupped before taking another swig of his beer can.

Over on the couch, Gwen laid sprawled out on her back. She had her eyes closed, mouth opened, and barely breathing. On top of her, face down, was Bill, in the same groggy state as Fox.

From the floor, Fox said to Lucy quietly, "Did you like it?"

"Furr is gross," she mumbled.

Fox laughed weakly. "It was great."

Retching noises could be heard from the bathroom. Katt came out, wiping her mouth and tripping over Star, who was passed out on the floor.

When Katt hit the floor she did not bother getting up. She remained crippled on her side. "Uggggh, I'm never drinking again."

Nobody answered. She lifted her head to inspect the room. "Where's Peppy?"

Slippy belched loudly. "He went to go find his camera so he could blackmail us later."

Katt let her head fall back onto the floor. She eyed over at Gwen and Bill, still piled on the couch. "You two look comfy…"

Bill lifted his head and looked down at Gwen, right as her eyes fluttered open. Bill placed his mouth against her ear. "You okay?"

"Hm…" was all Gwen could manage.

Bill slowly removed himself from the couch and stood up. He looked around, then back down at Gwen, whose eyes were closed again.

Bill bent over her and scooped her up into his arms. He walked out of the room, carrying Gwen down the hall.

No one seemed to notice – or just did not care. Falco was still restraining Monica, whose head was lolled back on his shoulder. Slippy's head was now pinned down on the table, one hand still clutching his beer.

Letting out a sigh, Lucy gathered herself up off the floor. Fox looked at her warily. She nodded in Star's direction. "Think we should do something about your sister."

Fox nodded, and then heaved himself up. The room began to spin, and he fell and landed in Lucy's arms.

Lucy let out an "umph!" as she caught him. She staggered under his weight, then bent low so he dipped over her shoulder. Lucy picked him up and left the room. When she had deposited Fox on the bed in his room she then returned to the galley, where nothing more had changed.

"Falco," she said, heading over to the table, "you're semi-conscious – drag Monica to her room while I do Slippy."

Falco stood Monica up and then led her by the hand out of the room. Lucy followed, pulling Slippy.

On Lucy's next return, Peppy showed up, camera in hand. He stood over Star and Katt (who was officially knocked out).

"Oh, very nice," Peppy said acidly, snapping a picture.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Peppy, just help me get them out of here, will ya?"

….

When Monica opened her eyes the following morning, the first thing she saw was a blue falcon's head on the pillow next to her.

Monica gasped, then quickly pressed a hand to her sore head. She rolled over on her back and figured out that yes, her bra was still and yes, her pants were still on and yes, Falco was still fully dressed.

Monica's dry tongue stuck to her teeth; she was deathly thirsty. Her head felt awful. She could not sit up.

The door to her room opened and Lucy walked in carrying a can of soda and bottle of pills.

"Hey, sunshine," she said, sitting at the end of Monica's bed. "I see you've got a new roommate."

Monica moaned, looked over at the still-sleeping Falco, then said, "I don't remember going to bed…"

"He probably just collapsed next to you," Lucy said. "You both were pretty drunk. Star and Katt are still passed out and Fox is walking around with an ice pack on his head. I am _so_ glad I didn't like that stuff."

"How about Gwen?" Monica asked, pulling herself up slowly.

"I haven't seen her yet," Lucy said. "She wasn't in her room and Bill's door is locked."

Monica raised her eyebrows, popping the soda can open and sipping it. Lucy handed her the pill bottle.

"Whatever happened to Peppy?" Monica asked, taking the pill bottle.

"He got a picture of Katt and Star to use as blackmail and…you know, you're only supposed to take two of those…" Lucy watched Monica down three pills with her soda.

"Don't care," Monica said after her last gulp.

From next to her Falco stirred and opened his eyes. He glanced nervously from Monica to Lucy.

"Just so you know," he told Lucy, "nothing happened last night – I just got her to go to sleep and couldn't move so I –"

"It's cool," Lucy said. "Quite frankly, I'm more concerned about Gwen."

Falco groaned into his pillow, "I feel like death…"

Monica rattled the pill bottle and placed it on her nightstand. "We'll go get you some soda," she said, climbing out of her bed as Lucy stood up.

The two girls walked down the hall, Monica sipping her soda and Lucy fiddling with her hair silently.

"Aw, shit!" and angry voice suddenly hissed from ahead of the girls.

They quickened their pace and turned into Bill's room. The door was open, and inside Bill's room was Gwen, standing above his unmade bed with her hands on her hips. Her red hair was tangled and messy, falling loosely down her back. She had on last night's jeans, but a different shirt – a white t-shirt that was, by far, too big for her.

"Gwen?" Lucy spoke up, stopping in Bill's doorway.

Gwen turned her head to look at her companions. Her expression was disgruntled, complete with smeared make-up; the running mascara made her look ghastly.

"What are you doing?" Monica asked her.

Gwen rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Nothing." She abruptly hurried out of Bill's room past her friends. Monica and Lucy quickly exchanged glances and then followed her.

"Gwen," someone called from behind.

All the girls turned to see Bill walking up the hallway, carefully grasping a mug of coffee. He hesitated at the sight of Lucy and Monica, but called to Gwen, "Did you find it?"

"Nah, no luck," she replied.

"Well, maybe I'll find it when I make my bed," he said, turning into his room.

Gwen started back up the hall. Lucy and Monica looked at each other again, wide-eyed, and chased after her.

Gwen steered herself into her room, grabbed her hair brush from off of her dresser, and ferociously started brushing her hair in front of her mirror.

Lucy and Monica crowded around her, but Gwen just stared intently at her own reflection in the mirror.

"Gwen," Lucy said, "where did you get that shirt?"

"It's mine," Gwen said curtly.

Monica asked, "Then why does it say 'Cornerian Naval Academy' on the back?"

"I got it on Corneria. Duh."

"I don't remember you _buying_ it," Monica said, eyeing at her.

"Well, I did." Gwen flipped her hair.

"Where's the shirt you wore last night?" Lucy asked, looking around the room. "That black tank top…"

"It was dirty. I got rid of it."

"So your jeans weren't then?"

Gwen did not reply.

"Gwen," Lucy said harshly, "is the tank top _lost_ in Bill's room?"

"Why the hell won't you two get off my back?" Gwen cried, finally turning to gawk at them.

"'cause you're acting, like, really weird," Monica said.

"What do you care if I lost my tank top?" Gwen demanded.

Lucy blinked. "Well, for one thing, it's _my_ tank top…"

"Everything's _fine_," Gwen said with exasperation. "_God_, y'all!"

Gwen charged past them again, going back out of her room. Monica frowned at Lucy. "Actually, it's _my_ tank top."

Lucy rolled her eyes and followed Gwen, fussing after her, "What exactly did you do together last night?"

"Nothing," Gwen spat over her shoulder. "We didn't do anything, okay? Drop it."

Monica caught up to Lucy, who then said, "Do you like him?"

Gwen stopped so suddenly that her friends almost ran into her. Gwen stared at Lucy. "Like who?"

"Bill, duh."

Gwen hesitated. "I like him fine."

Lucy nodded. "Cool…"

Monica glanced form Lucy to Gwen, then back to Lucy. "I think I'll go get Falco's soda now…"

She retreated in the opposite direction down the hallway. Lucy said to Gwen, "Do you need anything from the kitchen? 'cause that's where I'm going."

Gwen folded her arms across her chest, reaching up with one hand to brush her fingers through her hair. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head no.

Lucy turned on her heel and headed down the path Monica just took. When she looked over her shoulder, Gwen was gone.

Lucy was so puzzled that she almost ran into Bill, who was walking in the opposite direction. She noticed he had a black cloth balled up in his hands.

"Hey," Lucy said to him, "is that Gwen's top?"

"Uh, uh…" he fiddled with it. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"Well, where was it?"

"Um, I uh…I don't know," he laughed nervously. "Monica found it."

Bill continued toward Gwen's room, while Lucy found Monica and Falco drinking soda in the kitchen.

"So," she said to Monica, "where was Gwen's tank top?"

"You mean _my_ tank top –"

"Whatever!"

'I don't know," Monica shrugged. "I haven't seen it."

Lucy blinked. She seized Monica by the wrist and dragged her over to the other side of the room. Falco stared after them in confusion.

Once over by the television Lucy hissed into Monica's ear, "I just saw Bill with the tank top in his hands and he said _you_ found it!"

Monica gawked at her. "_Huh_?"

"Yeah."

"What the fuck?"

"I know, right?"

"Was this just now?"

"Uh huh."

"Why would he say that?"

"I don't know," Lucy said, "but he was acting strange."

Monica turned and called to Falco, who was still on the other side of the room, "Hey, Falco, did you see Bill come in here?"

Falco thought before saying, "Yeah, he came in here to wash out his mug, like, right before either of you two showed up. Why?"

"Was he carrying a black tank top?" Monica asked.

"I guess – it was all bundled up. He said it was his. But why –?"

"Ohmygawd!" Monica yelped to Lucy. "What the fuck is up?"

Shaking her head, Lucy said, "Whatever it is, he's withheld."

"Gwen, too," Monica added.

Perplexed, the falcon started, "What are you –?"

"Let's go," Lucy said hastily, grabbing Monica again and charging out through the automatic door.

Falco called after them, "I'll, uh…I'll just stay here, then…"

Lucy and Monica hurried up the hall to Gwen's room. The door was open. The girls peered in to see Bill and Gwen standing face to face. Gwen was absently rotating the black tank top in her hands. She was smiling up at Bill. "You sure you don't want your t-shirt back?"

Bill laughed, "It looks better on you."

Gwen giggled, "Okay."

They were quiet for a minute.

"So," Bill finally said, "should we tell anyone about…?"

"Nah, it's none of their business…"

"Probably not something they want to think about in the middle of a war, anyway," Bill said.

"Yeah…"

Then, Gwen stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Bill's waist and pulled herself against him. Lucy and Monica watched as Bill kissed their friend on the head before nuzzling it affectionately.


	21. Chapter 21

The three human girls sat on the couch in the galley, the television on, watching a segment called "My sister's a slut" on a Jerry Springer-type show. Lucy and Monica were leaning back against their cushions on either side of Gwen, blankly and dumbly keeping their eyes on the show. Gwen sat upright, carefree, interactively participating in the segment on television as if the people onset could hear her; "Boo, you whore…" "That dick doesn't love you!" "Ouch, give him the chair! The chair!"

Monica and Lucy considered their friend. Gwen was, at least to them, very pretty. Makeup looked good on her, she had long, flawless red hair, and the clothes she owned made her look like a model – Lucy and Monica's clothes _also_ made her look like a model.

Gwen's freckled skin almost made her look tan. She had pearly white teeth. She had big boobs – which Monica lacked – and being so small made Lucy look like a tree. She appeared dainty and girly and loved the limelight.

Had it not been for the existence of "Devil" Cameron Conway, Gwen probably would have been considered the hottest girl on Tesserone. Lucy and Monica knew this – they had known Gwen for 14 years, and had guessed she would be the first of them to score a boyfriend…

But not with a _dog_, in _space_, during a _war_.

"Ugh, shady bastard," Gwen now said, watching as a jaguar punched the host in the face. "We used to have shit like this on TV back on Jazeloone, remember, guys?"

"Hm," they both went.

Gwen glance over her shoulder at Monica before returning to the show. "If that were me and Devil Cameron up there I'd tear her to shreds, you know? Bitchy little slut…"

Monica went, "Mmhm" while Lucy added, "Uh huh."

Gwen bit her lower lip. "We'd probably get into trouble again, though…haha, good times, right?"

Lucy mooed, "Sure" and Monica murmured, "Yep…"

Gwen sighed, loudly. "Okay," she stood up, turning around to face her friends. "What did I do?"

Lucy glared at her.

"What?" Gwen snapped at her.

"Do you and Bill have a thing?" Lucy asked.

"A thing? What are you, 12?"

"Why didn't you tell us you liked him?" Monica asked.

"What do you care?" spat Gwen. "_You_ like _Falco_."

"WHAT?" Monica yelled, jumping to her feet.

"Well, ya do!" Gwen said. "Lucy thinks so, too!"

Monica tossed a dirty look at Lucy on the couch, but the ravenhead was avoiding eye contact.

"I saw you two last night," Gwen said to Monica, all accusatory. "You were practically giving him a lapdance."

Monica raised an eyebrow. "Huh? I don't remember that…"

Gwen folded her arms across her chest. "Uh huh…"

"Gwen, I was drunk! God!"

"And Lucy likes Fox," Gwen said, ignoring Monica.

Lucy, looking guarded, turned her attention to Gwen. "That's a lie."

"You," Gwen told her, "unlike Monica here, were not drunk…and you still cozied up to Fox on the floor and let him give you a back rub and stuff."

"Oh, that's ludicrous!" Lucy cried, jumping up from the couch. She placed her hands on her hips. "You only say that so you can glibly cover up what you've been up to with Bill! You're as nefarious for that as Cameron Conway! This is what makes people bellicose – bad reputations!"

Gwen blinked. "Well, even if I did know what you just said I'd still disagree with you."

"Whatever," mumbled Lucy.

Monica angrily looked from one of them to the other. "I can't _believe_ you two have been talking behind my back!"

"Oh, just like you two haven't been talking about _me_?" Lucy growled.

Gawking at her, Monica said, "I _never _knew – let alone said – you liked Fox! I was too fucking drunk last night to see you snuggling with him!"

"I _don't_ like Fox."

"Yes, you do," Gwen sassed.

"I'm not the one who lost my top last night," Lucy told her.

"For the last time, it's MY top," Monica cried.

"I wasn't talking to you," Lucy spat at Monica. "When you're done being catty we can talk again."

"I haven't been catty," Monica told her.

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because, quite frankly, you're not that interesting to talk about."

Lucy gawked at her while Gwen sneered, "Well, glad to see _I'm_ interesting to be talked about, then."

"You're not either," Monica said. "I just want my shirt back."

Gwen scoffed, "You two are lame as shit."

Lucy snapped at her, "Fuck off!"

Gwen dropped her jaw. "Screw you!"

Monica said to whoever, "Up yours!"

Then they all stormed off. Monica headed to her room, Lucy went to her own and Gwen went to…Bill's.

….

An incredulously loud siren was what awoke Monica at 3 a.m. that night – that, and the blinding red light that began flashing from the alarm on the wall above her bedroom door.

Monica let out a short shriek in surprise and sat up in her bed. She looked around, panicking, watching as her room flashed red, then dark; red, then dark; red, then dark…

The sliding door to her room opened and Falco came running in, fully dressed, hand reaching out to Monica on the bed.

"C'mon!" he hollered, grabbing her own hand and tugging her out of bed. Monica ran after Falco as he dragged her down the hall.

"Falco!" she yelled. "What's going on?"

"It's an ambush!" he shouted as they reached the galley. Everyone was in there; the guys were pulling on army boots and jackets. Lucy and Gwen, evidently just recently awoken, stood in confusion. Star came marching in from the docking bay wearing an earpiece and mic, talking loudly into it.

"Grey says to send out his Bulldog and Husky Units. Over," she called out.

Bill quickly grabbed her mic and yelled, "This is Grey – I want my Bulldog Unit to not let anything through. Husky Unit, cover the base. Over."

Katt sprinted by everyone toward the docking bay. "Boys, come _on_!"

Bill stopped and looked at her. "No, I'm leading my units on to Venom to clear the way for Star Fox. You help the guys; Star is going to lead General Pepper in his flagship."

Katt, mouth opened, gawked at him. "Venom's _right there_!" She pointed toward the entrance of the docking bay. "We can't wait!"

"We're gonna have to," Bill said grimly, beginning to follow her out.

"Ahem."

All heads turned to see General Pepper, standing dutifully before them. "This may be our one shot at Andross," he said gravely. "We cannot afford to lose this battle. Now move out!"

"What about us?" Monica spoke up. "What about our plans –?"

"Everyone's plans have gone awry, Miss Krane," he said to her. "We can't always stick to the rough draft."

"Star Fox Team, OUT!" Fox bellowed, making a charge for the docking bay. He gave a quick yet thoughtful nod toward Lucy. Falco brushed Monica's shoulder and Bill gave Gwen a peck on the cheek as he chased the rest of the crew. Star and Pepper were the last ones out.

For a moment, the girls stood dumbly together. The siren and flashing red light had ceased, but shooting could now be heard from the outside.

"Control room," Lucy suddenly said in a terrible calmness. Then, she broke into a run, sprinting out of the galley to the other side of the ship. Perplexed, Gwen and Monica chased after her.

Lucy led them up the stairs at the end of the hallway. Two pilots were seated inside the control room, aggressively pushing buttons and shouting things into their mouthpieces.

The girls stood in the back, watching the commotion outside. Tiny, triangular black jets were swarming before them, being chased by the Star Fox Team in their Arwings (and Katt in her pink ship). The Arwings shot double jets of blue lazers, while the enemy submitted red single ones. On occasion, one shot would hit Great Fox, sending tremors through the ship and causing the girls to stumble and fall into each other.

"Whoa," Gwen said in awe as she steadied herself. "I better go put some pants on!" She ran back down the stairs, tripping all the way.

Monica looked at Lucy, who was watching Gwen scramble off. Shrugging to herself, Monica began to make a run for it to her own room. She scampered down the stairs, hearing the blasts from outside. She dashed into her room (after crashing into the automatic door that failed to open quickly enough) and seized the drawers of her dresser. Heart racing, Monica fumbled through her wardrobe until recovering a pair of jeans. In attempt to pull off her cotton shorts, she fell over and had to tug her jeans on while lying on the flat of her back. After hopping back up, Monica pulled off her tank top and found a bra in the top dresser drawer. She hooked it on, and then pulled on a t-shirt. At last, she put her a pair of sneakers on her feet and ran back out of her room.

As she pulled herself along with wall of the hallway, Gwen came scurrying out of Bill's room, tugging a t-shirt over her head. She had put on her old grey sweatpants and some flip-flops. Both Gwen and Monica made their way back to the cockpit where Lucy (who, evidently, possessed the power to dress quicker than both of them) was pinned against the wall, gazing at the scene with a green-tinted face.

The outside of Great Fox did not look any better; zapping still hit the ship, sending jolts through the cockpit. The girls fell into each other while the workmen at the control panels frantically hollered into their headsets.

"Missile. Approaching," ROB4's robotic voice announced to the crew. "It. Is. Heading. For. Great. Fox."

"Oh, shit!" Gwen cried in panic, grasping the air in attempt to stay standing.

The Arwings – plus Katt – swept off in one directions, as far as the girls could see.

"Missile. Approaching," ROB repeated. "Distance: 15."

"15 what?" Lucy hollered. "Miles?"

"You wish!" a workeman shouted back. Into his headset he barked, "Star Fox, blow that little fucker up!"

Gwen whimpered as she slid to the floor.

The ship shook violently.

"Missile. Approaching. Distance: 10."

"All units report!" cried another workman. "We're losing power."

Sparks started popping from the cockpit's machinery.

"Missile. Approaching. Distance: 5."

The lights inside Great Fox flickered and flash. Monica yelped as more sparks fell into her hair.

"Emergency maneuvers!" workman 1 yelled.

"No, not that!" workman 2 protested.

"Missile. Approaching," ROB said. "Keep. Clear."

"DO IT!"

A huge quake sent the girls falling down the stairs as the workmen sent the ship into a swirl of colors.

The girls screamed as Great Fox sped through space. They did not stop until the ship hit something – hard.


	22. Chapter 22

_Is this what it feels like to be dead?_

Monica opened her eyes. Lucy's black hair was strewn across her face.

Groaning, Monica swiped Lucy's hair away and sat up. She pulled herself up, looking around.

She was still at the bottom of the stairs, Lucy sprawled out beside her and Gwen slumped against the broken automatic door. They were both awake but not moving.

"OW," Gwen said in a hollow voice. "THAT fucking killed."

As she gathered herself up, Lucy called up the stairs, "Hey, what gives?"

No answer.

"Workman dudes?" Gwen called. "Y'all alright?"

Still nothing.

"Should we go up there?" Monica asked, looking at Gwen.

The redhead hissed in frustration as she straightened herself. She did not anser.

Annoyed, Monica put her hands on her hips. "Are we still in a fight?"

"Just go," Gwen grumbled.

Monica carefully walked up the stairs. Debris from the walls and ceiling littered her path. When she reached the top, she spotted the three workmen, groggily lifting their heads.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Ehhh…" one groaned. "Not quite."

Monica peered out through the looking glass. Wherever they were, it was foggy.

"What happened?" she said.

One workman – an iguana wearing a nametag labeled Iggy – replied, "Hyperdrive – it was our only way out."

A second pilot – a chimp named Harry – leaned over the control panel, examining the burnt, smoking machinery.

From behind Monica, Gwen said, "Is the ship, like, broken?"

"We don't know," Harry said. "We've lost power."

Lucy joined Gwen at the top of the stairs. "How can we help?"

Wart – the hog (head pilot) – said, "Go venture outside and see if you find any locals."

Lucy turned and headed back down the stairs. Monica looked at Gwen uncertainly. Gwen ignored her and followed Lucy. Sighing, Monica descended the stairs.

Lucy led the way to the docking bay. None of the girls said anything as they passed hectic maintenance crew members.

In the galley, all the dishes had fallen from their cabinets, smashed on the floor. Chairs had been knocked over – many broken. Food and drinks were decorating even the ceiling.

The docking bay's rafters were empty. The entrance of the docking bay, where the ships flew in, had been sealed shut, but the battle had left it mangled and distorted. The girls found a crack in the cover and pushed it further open, revealing the outside world.

Stepping outside, Lucy squinted through the heavy grey fog. She could not make out dark shapes ahead, but nothing more.

Gwen walked past her, heading toward what turned out to be endless mounds of rubble. Monica stopped behind her to check out what the rubble was made up of: bricks, metal parts, plenty of glass…

The whole area around them was like a never-ending junkyard. Lucy pointed out a marble sink to Monica at one pile.

"See?" she said, her finger aiming at a silver faucet. "And there are knobs…"

"What are you saying?"

"That there's gotta be people here," Lucy said. "Or, at last, once upon a time…"

"Ow!" Gwen hissed from the other side of the mound. The other two girls looked up and watched her as she hastily knelt down to pull pieces of glass from her flip-flop.

."Should've worn better shoes," Lucy observed.

"Ya think?" Gwen snapped.

"No, I know," Lucy grinned.

"Shut up."

"What _is_ it with you and that mouth?"

"You started it!" Gwen declared, tripping her way through the rubble.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Lucy said acidly. "It was all me. Yup."

Monica, rolling her eyes, turned away and wandered to the next pile. Within its rusty clutches she saw a broken neon sign. The first letter – a J – was sticking out toward Monica.

"You are such a hypocrite," Gwen hollered at Lucy, limping back and forth on the other side of the mound.

"_I'm_ a hypocrite?" Lucy repeated. "God, you're the one spreading rumors about people."

"You and Monica sit there talking about how messed up my life is, remember?"

Monica, ignoring their banter, reached for the J and started tugging at it.

"I don't think your life is messed up!" Lucy argued. "But why hide things from us!"

"I don't!" spat Gwen. "Why should I have to tell you everying?"

Monica recovered the next letters: an A and a Z.

"Because it makes you look suspicious!"

"You're hiding your feelings for Fox!" Gwen taunted.

"Am not!" Lucy cried.

"Are so!"

An E, an L…

"Bitch!"

"Hoe!"

Two O's…

"Asswipe!"

"Gaylord!"

"What?"

"Yeah!"

An N…

"I hate you!" Lucy shrieked.

"I hate you more!" Gwen screeched back.

And an E.

Monica gasped and cried, "Oh, my GOD!"

Lucy and Gwen spun around to look at Monica, who was holding the dusty sign up to them. "We're on Jazeloone."

It suddenly became very silent. A soft wind blew through the girls' hair. Lucy and Gwen gazed dumbly at the word 'Jazeloone' still in Monica's grasp.

Monica then took the sign and tossed it back into the pile. "I betcha I know where we are, too," she announced. "Just off Roselyn Boulevard. Our houses are, like, four blocks away."

She looked around, then pointed behind her. "We're probably in that direction, you think? Unless they blew the sign way off course, but we could try…"

She turned back to the girls. Gwen was looking away, her eyebrows furrowed, hands digging into the pockets of her pants. Lucy's fingers were twirling loose strands of her black hair, frowning to herself.

Monica said aloud, "What?"

Neither answered. Gwen thoughtfully nudged a brick with her foot. Lucy flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked behind her as though hearing someone shout her name.

"C'mon, guys," Monica urged. She pointed from one girl to the other. "You're sorry, you're sorry, I'm sorry. We're all friends. Let's just drop all the drama, okay?"

Still, nobody answered. Monica sighed in frustration. "God, y'all! One stupid fight and you're out? We've made it this far…we've made it six years…think about why we're here!"

Gwen finally looked at her. "Why are we here, Monica?"

Monica stared back at Gwen. "I dunno…fate? Accident?"

Gwen frowned at Monica. Her troubled expression took over every inch of her face. "What do you want to go find exactly? Your parents and brothers buried underneath all this crap? I, for one, don't want to."

Monica just blinked.

"There is no reason why we're here," Gwen called to her. "We started this whole epic battle for NOTHING! The only reason Lucy and I are stuck out here is because of you! You're the one who – boo-hoo – couldn't stand life anymore on Tesserone and thought it'd be cool for us to go play Star Wars. You know something – we _have_ families, Monica, and I know that's not your fault but here we are, stuck right back where we started from six years ago, and we have no way of getting to defeat Andross or seeing our own families again! Or the Star Fox team! So, how the hell did Lucy and I benefit from all this?"

Monica, stung by Gwen's words, could only stare at her. She glanced at Lucy, but she remained mute.

To Gwen, Monica said, "You're sticking up for Lucy again?"

"Whatever!" cried Gwen. "This isn't about Bill or any of the boys! This is about us!"

"Why are you so upset about it _now_?" Monica demanded. "If you didn't want to come, why did you?"

"I'm upset because now we're stuck here in this hellhole!" Gwen bellowed. "I came because Lucy wanted me to – 'cause she didn't want you to go alone! And you were my friend, and we had just lost Debby…it felt right. But now, _God_…I may never fix things with my folks or see Bill – whom, yes, I like a lot – ever again."

"We've been here for five fucking minutes," Monica protested, her voice raising. "So what – all is lost?"'

She glanced at Lucy, who was glowering at her through the fallen strands of her hair. Monica called back to Gwen, "I'm sorry you feel this way Gwen, but honestly: you think that I would intentionally inflict pain on either of you? You think I predicted that each of us would get so attached to these guys, then we'd get stranded on here? WHY IS THIS MY FAULT?"

Gwen narrowed her eyes, nudging some more bricks with her feet. She mumbled, "I miss Bill."

"You're still upset about Lucy getting on you about not telling us about Bill," Monica said. "And yes, that's your business. But quit blaming me for whatever love life issues you're having."

"It _is_ your fault –"

"No," Monica interrupted with a bark. "If that is the case then you would have never met Bill if it weren't for me. Gwen, you and Lucy are my love life. I understand you two have your own lives – including your families…I don't have that anymore. I would be lying if I said I was not jealous, but I would never jeopardize anything that important to you, because you're important to me. Besides Lily Sue you're the closest thing I have to a family."

Monica hadn't blinked. She hadn't taken her eyes off of Gwen. Tears were stinging under her lids and her throat had tightened severely.

Gwen did not look so hot, either; her lower lip was quivering and her cheeks were flushed to a brilliant red. It was unclear how Lucy look – she had buried her face into her hands.

Breathing hard, Gwen walked past Lucy, heading straight for Great Fox.

Lucy shrunk down onto a mangled metal sheet beneath her, pulling her long legs up to her chest and burying her face into her arms.

Monica, watching her, stood quietly for a moment, then turned and walked the way she believed her home once stood.


	23. Chapter 23

"I think we're making excellent progress," Harry said, handing Iggy a wrench in the cockpit.

Iggy grunted in frustration as he reached a hand out from under the control panel. It had been three weeks since they crashed on Jazeloone, and little had been accomplished. The crew had gotten most of the power back, but the G-Diffuser system had crashed, so the radio did not work.

The girls were back on speaking terms. Monica never did find her house but it did not faze her; she knew she would not have liked it. Lucy did favors for the crew, and led what she called the "Clean Up Committee" in restoring the interior of the ship. Gwen kept to herself a lot, missing Bill.

Lucy came into the cockpit with an armful of metal pipes that she had retrieved from the junk piles outside. "Will these do?"

Wart turned to her. "Thank you, Miss Ferns. Just put them down; Iggy needs to pull the old ones out first."

Lucy droped them on the floor, then ventured downstairs and went to Monica's room. Monica was doing hers and her friends' laundry on her bed.

"Hey," Lucy said, sitting on the chair of Monica's desk. "Having fun?"

"Tons," Monica smiled, barely. "I'm not a big fan of touching other people's underwear, you know?"

"I'd assume so," Lucy replied, watching as Monica folded some jeans. "Do you miss Falco?"

Monica glanced up, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Um…yeah? Maybe…I dunno. Do you miss Fox?"

Lucy sighed. "It may have been a one-time thing."

"Maybe…"

Gwen suddenly appeared in the doorway, leaning against the threshold with a solemn look on her face. She did not look either of her friends in the eye as she murmured, "Hey…"

"Hey," Monica said with a frown. "What's up?"  
>Gwen took a deep breath and squirmed. "I gotta show you two something."<p>

She regained some composure and walked back down the hall, beckoning her friends. Monica and Lucy looked at each curiously before following her.

Gwen led the way to the bathroom. When the automatic door opened, the girls filed inside. Gwen put the door in lock-mode, then leaned against the wall, looking straight ahead.

"What is it?" Lucy asked.

Gwen croaked, "It bad, guys…"

Monica looked nervously at Lucy before saying to Gwen, "How bad?"

Gwen shook her head, her eyes clouding. She brought her hands to her face and pulled them down her cheeks in woe.

"Gwen," Lucy said in a new, bossy tone. "_Spill it_."

Gwen then walked past her friends to the end of the row of sinks, where a wrinkled brown paper bag was balled up by one faucet. She reached into the bag and pulled out a white stick-shaped object. Lucy and Monica walked over to get a closer look. The stick had a little plus sign on one end.

"No…" Lucy said in awe. "Oh, my God…"

Monica watched Gwen as she nodded, eyes on the tile floor. "I'm pregnant."

"You can't be…" Lucy whispered. "Maybe it's wrong!"

"I've taken, like, four or five of these," Gwen told her.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah? So nothing is wrong that many times!" Gwen said frantically.

She began pacing in front of the sinks.

"But the party…" Lucy said, perplexed, "that was only three weeks ago."

"So?" Gwen said, concentrating on her pacing. "That wasn't the first time we had sex."

Monica gasped. "You had _sex_?"  
>Lucy looked at Monica impatiently. Gwen sighed, loudly. She stomped one foot and said, "<em>Yes<em>, Monica! I had sex, _duh_! That's the only way you get pregnant!"

Lucy asked Gwen, "When was the first time you slept with him?"

"You mean _Bill_?" Monica said with more stupidity.

Gwen rolled her eyes at the blonde but said to Lucy, "That night when you first called home. I was feeling vulnerable…" She pressed her forehead against the wall. "I do love him, though."

Monica and Lucy frowned at each other.

Gwen started pacing again. "What am I going to do? I can't take care of a baby…" ("'Course not," Lucy said softly) "I can't even take care of myself! What'll my parents say? Should I keep it? What if it's a puppy and not a baby? What if Bill won't help me?"

"What if the sky turns to fire and your nose falls off?" Lucy cried, seizing Gwen by the shoulders. "_You gotta get a grip_."

"What made you decide to take a pregnancy test?" Monica asked, hopping herself up onto a sink.

Gwen shrugged, stepping back from Lucy's grasp. "I don't know…I'm late, I got sick yesterday…I didn't think I was pregnant, just a bug or something. But I went to the medical wing and the nurse there asked the date of my last period and that's when I realized I could not even remember, so she suggested I take a test…"

She stood there, looking hopeless. Her eyes were crestfallen, her mouth curved downward in utter despair. Red hair fell in front of her face aimlessly.

"I miss Bill," she whimpered. She drifted over to the sink by Monica. There, she propped her elbows, found her face inside her hands, and cried.

….

"IT WORKS!"

Lucy and Monica gave startled shrieks from the table in the galley as Iggy burst in with sheer glee.

"What works?" Lucy asked him, wiping her cappuccino from where it had spilt on the table top.

"The G-diffuser system!" said Iggy. "Harry was fiddlin' with it, and we heard static, and then beeping and we picked up a distress signal!"

Monica gazed at him. "Uh…why is a distress signal a _good_ thing?"

"Because the damn thing works!" cried Iggy. "Now we can get out of here!"

"That'll make Gwen happy," Monica said (Gwen had been moping for the past four days since the discovery of her pregnancy).

"Yes, so let's get in take-off positions!" Iggy cheered, leaving the galley.

Five minutes later the three human girls were strapped into the seats in the hallway as Wart set a course for the coordinates in which the distress signal was coming from.

After a rough zap through hyperdrive, Great Fox approached their new location.

This time, it was Tesserone.


	24. Chapter 24

"What a dump."

"Iggy!" Harry hissed.

"What? Oh…" Iggy looked apologetically at the girls, who were glaring at him. "Sorry, girls…"

"Land here," Wart ordered as the ship hovered over a dead field. From the cockpit the girls could see their town; smoke was rising from it.

Suddenly, a clicking sound came from the control panel in front of the workmen.

"It's a transparency from General Pepper…" Harry observed, the he and Wart looked at Iggy with uncertainty.

Iggy took a deep breath. "Hold on to your butts…" He pressed a button, and General Pepper's blue, transparent head drifted above the control panel.

The workmen saluted. Wart said, "Glad to see you still alive, sir."

"Thank you, Wart," said the general. "It appears that you girls are our last hope to defeat Andross. He has taken over Tesserone."

"We know," Monica said. "We're here."

"What do you mean we're your last hope?" Lucy interrupted. "What happened to Star Fox?"  
>General Pepper hesitated. "We're not sure."<p>

The girls looked at each other.

"That's why you must track down Andross on your planet," he went on. "We are in your dept. Do whatever it takes to put an end to that damn ape!"

His transmission ended, and everyone just looked at each other with concerned puzzlement.

"Well…" Gwen sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "What do we do now?"

….

Harry flew the "buggy" ship low above the treetops of Tesserone.

"It should be just up ahead," Monica directed him as he neared a clearing. "Yeah, right here."

Harry landed the passenger jet in the large clearing of the dying forest, where the girls' cabin still sat.

"Thanks, Harry," Monica said as she and her friends climbed out of the ship. "Be careful flying back."

"Good luck, ladies," he said before sealing the doors and taking off.

"Wow," Gwen breathed. "Home sweet home."

The girls faced their old cabin in awe. The windows were cracked, the door was broken in. Shingles scattered the "yard," and there were bullet holes on the wood of the logs.

"Should we go in?" Lucy asked.

"It's our house, isn't it?" Monica replied, leading the way up to what was once the front door.

Monica first laid eyes on the living room – or what was left of it. The couch and two armchairs were gone. Glass littered the floor in front of the fireplace as a result of family pictures being smashed on the mantle.

Lucy wandered into the kitchen, stepping over their broken plates and knocked over chairs. The kitchen table was covered with game cards, distributed evenly along the edges.

"Must have used this place as an HQ," Lucy observed. She opened the pantry and announced, "Food's gone."

Gwen found her room naked – her comforter was missing, her flowered wallpaper had been torn off, and whatever pictures had once been hanging were broken upon the floor. "Why the hell would they want my wallpaper?"

Back in the kitchen, Monica pulled a chair upright to the table and sat down. "Okay," she announced. "We gotta strategize."

Lucy, leaning against the counter, said, "What's Plan A?"

"Gwen!" Monica hollered. "Let's brainstorm."

Gwen came back into the kitchen and hopped onto the tabletop. "Yes?"

"Well, where would Andross be?" Monica thought aloud.

"Town Hall?" Lucy suggested.

"That's just an office," Monica replied. "I don't think he'd do an aoffice."

"How about the club?" Gwen guessed. "That's big…"

"We gotta think outside the box…" Monica said. She propped an elbow on the table and rested her head in her hand. "Baron Harte has access to the town's computer systems, but someone else owns it."

"Then it's gotta be some rich bastard," Lucy said.

Gwen suddenly dropped her jaw. "Oh, boy…"

"What?" Monica asked her.

"Guys," she said, turning herself on the table, "who's the richest guy on Tesserone?"

Monica raised an eyebrow. "I don't know…"

"Okay," pressed Gwen. "Who's the richest _snob_ that we know?"

"Oh, my God," Lucy wailed. "_Please_ don't tell me you're talking about that bitch…"

"You're talking about _Cameron Conway_?" Monica said to Gwen, incredulously.

"Duh!" Gwen said. "Conway Corporation runs Tesserone's computer system. Andross has certainly infiltrated _tha_t by now."

"Great," Lucy groaned, "now we have to find Cameron so she can get us to her dad."

"We should get Gretchen, too," Monica added, thinking of their other red-headed friend. "It'd be like old times sake."

"Minus Debby," Lucy said flatly.

"First Cameron," Gwen said. "I say we head to her house."

Monica looked up at her. "Are you sure you wanna do it? I mean, will it hurt you?"

Gwen thought about this, then said, "Well, it isn't exactly safe here either."

"Good point."

"Okay," Lucy sighed, leaving the counter. "Let's go find the bitch…"

….

The buildings were eroded, barely standing under the blood-red dusk sky when the girls poked their heads through the bushes of the woods, watching the state their town was in.

Andross's troops had formed everyone in lines, marching Tesserone's citizens through the streets. People's heads hung miserably, dragging themselves barefooted and barely clothed toward their unknown destination. Children in tattered rags clung to each other in despair, wailing for their parents.

The troops showed no mercy with their rifles. Anyone deemed "out of line" was beaten and forced to keep marching.

"Wow," Monica breathed. "Does this scene ring a bell?"

"Yeah," Lucy replied, her eyes on the troops. "But at least the invasion of Jazeloone was quicker."

"How do we find Cameron and Gretchen in this mess?" Gwen wanted to know.

Lucy, with her eyes still glued to the troops, whispered, "I have an idea. Follow me…"

She began crab-walking through the bushes toward a lone troop, dressed in a green uniform complete with a helmet and eye shield.

"Watch my six," she ordered her friends.

Monica and Gwen stopped to watch the ravenhead take out the armed gunman.

Minutes later, three troops sat tied-up and gagged as the girls crept off in their uniforms. Lucy boldly walked out onto the street, heading across town to the biggest house on the planet: Conway Manor – or, what remained of it; the once-blue mansion was now blackened from fire. Its windows and front door were either smashed or missing. The girls easily kicked in the fragments of the old mahogany double-doors and entered the decaying home.

The front hall was in pieces (what could be seen of it at least; the entire house was dark).

"Hellooooo?" Monica called, her voice echoing through the house.

"Maybe they're all dead," Lucy said quietly. "Maybe they're out marching with everybody else…"

"CAMERON!" Gwen screamed.

Lucy slapped her arm. "Thanks, Gwen! I may never have the hiccups again!"

Suddenly, a ceramic pot flew from the top of the grand staircase and shattered near Monica, who jumped out of contact.

"Get out!" said a shrill voice from the darkness. "Get out, out, OUT!"

"Cameron?" Lucy said, squinting to see.

"Don't act like you know me!" a choked sob replied.

Monica removed her helmet, letting her tangled hair fall down past her shoulders. "Cameron? It's Monica Krane."

No answer.

"Yeah," Lucy said, removing her own helmet. "And Lucy Ferns and Gwen Margo. Remember?"

Another ceramic pot flew down. It broke at Gwen's feet.

"Get a grip, girl!" Gwen squealed. "We need you!"

"Yeah," Monica said. "And you need us so come down here; we won't hurt you."

Cameron whimpered from the top of the stairs. Her petite figure could be seen leaning against the banister. "They're gone," she wailed, dropping down a step. She let out another sob.

"Who's gone?" Lucy asked.

"All of them," Cameron's voice quivered as she descended the stairs.

"Where are…they?" Gwen asked cautiously as Cameron came down to the landing.

"Gone…gone…gone…"

Cameron's pink tank top was torn and stained with what looked like blood. Her cutoff jeans were smeared in dirt. Spindly legs with bruises and scrapes carried her down the stairs. Cameron let her hands drop away from her face, and that was what shocked the girls the most; her lipstick consisted of blood. Eyeliner and mascara smudged her once perfect blue eyes, all down her pale cheeks. Tresses of oily blonde hair stuck to her forehead, falling out of a knotted bun. Tears outlined her nose and aging blush.

"Holy shit," Gwen said. "What the hell happened to _you_?"

Cameron's face screwed up and she cried harder. "They t-t-took everybody…I-I…don't know w-where anyone is! My f-family is gone…"

"How did they not get you?" Monica wanted to know.

"I-I…w-was..." Cameron brushed away some tears. She sniffed, "I was with the Palmers."

"The Palmers?" repeated Gwen. "You mean Gretchen?"

Cameron nodded. "I was with her when they destroyed my house. Gretchen took me to her house and they hid me, but then they were taken, too…"

"Why did you come here?" Gwen asked.

"I ran out their back door," Cameron replied. "They blew up the house…I had to come here!"

She measured Monica up and down with her eyes and said, "Why are you wearing those things?"

"So we could sneak over here and find you," Monica explained. "The Star Fox team has vanished but we made it back…"

"What do you need_ me_ for?" Cameron asked.

Lucy stepped up. "Your dad owns Tesseron's computer system, yes?"

"So?" Cameron gave a final sniff. "Andross jammed the satellite on top of Town Hall. You'd have to shut down the shield in order to do anything to it. But what's that go to do with me?"

"Well," Gwen said, "we were kinda hoping your dad would be _with_ you so he could _tell _us what to do."

Cameron rolled her eyes. "Anyone with a _brainstem_ could blow it up."

"_You_ haven't," Lucy pointed out.

"I can't go out there, I'll be shot the moment I'm seen!" Cameron cried. "_You_ guys, however…" She raised her eyebrows at their ensemble. "You might have a chance."

"But how would we blow it up?" Monica said. "Even stealing some rifles won't do any good."

"We need to radio Great Fox," Gwen said. "That's all – get into Town Hall and radio the ship."

"Alright," Lucy said heavily. "Now it's up to us. You might wanna stay here," she told Cameron.

As they turned to leave, Cameron said, "Good luck, girls."

All three girls stopped to stare at her. Cameron, flustered, said, "Yeah, I don't know what came over me…"


	25. Chapter 25

"It's like the Holocaust," Lucy panted as the girls jogged through a deserted street.

"The what?" heaved Gwen from behind.

"You know," Lucy said. "Years and years and years ago…during some war…people were persecuted because of their religious beliefs…they were kept in concentration camps."

They padded along the remnants of buildings. "A _what_ camp?" Gwen breathed.

"They treated people like crap there," replied Lucy. "Like, made them work and stuff. Bad living conditions."

"Who did that to them?" Gwen wanted to know.

"Hiller? Hinder? Something like that."

"You're too smart."

"I _read_," Lucy snapped.

"He did all of that just because of people's beliefs?" Monica asked.

"Yeah."

"Sounds like a real Andross."

The girls rounded a corner of a building and stopped.

"Oh, God…" Gwen exhaled, putting her hands to her stomach and leaning forward. Her face was contorted with agony.

"Exercising is good for pregnant ladies," Lucy told her.

"Not when you haven't able to feet yourself anything," Gwen replied, leaning against the building. "This sucks."

"We're almost there," Monica assured her. "We just need a plan."

"Go in, find radio, call for help," Gwen grumbled. "Any questions?"

"Someone's bound to be guarding the outside," Lucy said, ignoring Gwen. "We need to make up a reason to be let in."

"I'm pregnant and I need food," Gwen declared as a suggestion.

"No, we need a _good _excuse," Monica told her. "What the hell do they care if you're pregnant?"

"_I_ care!"

Monica eyed at her. "Anyway: we could say there's a riot…?"

Lucy considered this. "That might work…"

"I like my plan better," Gwen said bitterly. She rubbed her stomach.

"We're doing Monica's," Lucy announced. "Now come on."

She took off down the street. Monica and a sour Gwen followed, pulling their helmets over their heads.

Sure enough, two guard dogs were standing outside the front of Town Hall. Lucy stopped in front of them and said breathlessly, "Quick! There's a riot going on down on 4th Street!"

Without flinching, one dog said, "And you want us to…?"

"Lucy stared at him. "Shoot them or something – I don't know!"

Monica caught up. Gwen lagged behind. On seeing Lucy's announcement fail, she gestured toward Gwen behind her and said, "We are your replacements for the next shift."

"Finally!" one guard cried, already walking off. "I'm famished!"

The other dog followed. Lucy gave Monica a puzzled look, shrugged, then pushed open the door.

Behind the reception desk, tied to her chair, was Evelyn, grunting and trying to jerk herself from her binds.

"Evelyn!" Gwen hissed form inside her helmet. "It's me, Morticia!"

From behind the masking tape slapped across her mouth, Evelyn grunted some more. Gwen reached out and pulled it off before removing her helmet. She frowned at the tape in her hand. "Oh, Evelyn, I think I pulled some of your mustache off."

Lucy elbowed her before lifting her eye shield to look at the large receptionist. "Are you okay, Evelyn?"

Evelyn coughed, then replied, "Enough to know your name isn't _Morticia_," she eyed at Gwen. "Everyone knows about the three human girls who ran off with a bunch of animal-aliens to save the universe." She wheezed. "Baron Harte is unavailable at this time."

"We need a computer," Monica said.

"Andross jammed the satellite," Evelyn told her.

"We know," Monica said, "but if we can radio the Star Fox team's mothership, we can blow up the shield and regain access to our computer system."

Evelyn blinked. "Then what?"

"We can send for help outside our solar system," answered Lucy. "We can't do that by radio."

Evelyn sighed. "Okay…make it snappy. There's a radio upstairs, second door on the left."

"Thanks, Evelyn," Lucy and Monica said together, running down the hall. Gwen placed the masking tape back over Evelyn's mouth before following her friends upstairs.

Monica found the room looking similar to the cockpit on Great Fox. Lucy seated herslf at a panel. "Let's see if I can remember what Fox showed me…"

"Do you know what you're doing?" Monica asked her.

"Well," Lucy said thoughtfully, pushing buttons on a touch screen. "I mean, basically. It's just I need to reconfigure our central base for sending messages by reversing the waves through a parallel source – depending, you know, on ample bandwidth – and selecting a secondary signal proportional to the primary one so I can flip the power in a way that I can get proper reception equivalent to that of Great Fox's own capability."

She looked up at her friends. Monica was raising an eyebrow. Gwen was scratching her head.

"Just let me do it," Lucy ordered, returning to the panel. "Make sure no one comes in."

Gwen went to go shut the door, just as a troop's hand stopped it from closing all the way. "Hey!" said his sharp voice.

Gwen and Monica slammed their helmets back on. They crowded the door.

"Sorry, we're busy," Gwen said hastily.

"Doing _what_?" demanded the troop.

"Andross has us on an assignment," Monica said. "Now scram!"

"What assignment?" he barked. "What's your serial number?"

"Uh…" Gwen stammered. "What's _yours_?"

The troop suddenly reached into the pocket of his uniform and pulled out a communicator. He held down a button and said, "Unit Three, calling for backup."

Monica socked him in the stomach. He let out an "Umph!" and dropped the communicator. Monica seized his shoulders, pulled him inside the room and threw him against the wall. He slid to the floor, not moving.

"All done!" Lucy sang. She petitioned the mic in front of her and said, "Great Fox? Anyone there?"

"Come in," Iggy's voice replied.

"Iggy, it's Lucy."

"What's going on?" he sounded worried.

"We need you to blow up the shield surrounding the satellite on top of Town Hall," Lucy said. "It's jamming our computers."

"We're on it," Iggy replied.

"Let's get out of here," Lucy hollered to the girls, beginning to run out of the room. Gwen and Monica chased her downstairs and found her releasing Evelyn from her chair.

"I don't know what blowing up the shield will do to the building," Lucy told the receptionist. "You better leave."

"I can't go out there," said Evelyn. "They'll kill me."

Lucy frowned at her. Evelyn, however, smiled. "Go give 'em hell, girls. Don't worry about me. I go down with the ship."

"I'm sorry, maybe –"

"Hustle up," Evelyn said, crawling as much of herself she could get under her desk.

Lucy exhaled, and then followed her comrades outside.

"Where should we go?" asked. "We need a view."

"The top of the club?" Monica suggested.

Lucy shrugged. "I guess so."

Monica took off down the road, past the herd of marching civilians. The club still stood in one piece. They used the fire escape to climb to the top. There, they had a clear view of Town Hall, with a satellite dish perched on the rough. Surrounding it was a translucent energy shield, turning into a variety of colors. Red, blue, yellow…

Monica looked in the direction of the forest to see Great Fox's white figure emerging way off in the distance. "Here goes nothing…" she breathed.

As Great Fox drew nearer, people on the streets began to notice. Troops, in alarm, began barking orders, talking into communicators and running through the streets. For letting their guard down, people quit marching. Some stopped to stare upward at the ship. Others sought the opportunity to reunite with family members.

"God, I hope this works…" Lucy grumbled. "It wasn't easy figuring out that damn radio."

Great Fox casted a shadow over the town as it drew closer and closer, slowly but surely. It took aim at the shield guarding the satellite and shot one single yellow laser beam. The shield's energy seemed to shatter; there was no more changing of color.

Great Fox banked left and drifted away from town. The crowd of people looked around, and a low murmur fell upon them.

"Hm," Gwen said. "That was easy."

"Yeah," Monica frowned. "A little _too_ easy."

"What now?" Gwen asked.

"Lucy can go back inside and contact Corneria," Monica said.

Lucy gawked at her. "Oh yeah – _I_ can go running back inside…don't you think the radio would be, like, _occupied_ by now?"

"Something doesn't feel right," Monica said, ignoring Lucy. "Now they know we're here and…I guess we shoulda stayed inside?"

Lucy harrumphed. "Yay, we're back at square one…"

Suddenly, the town began to shake. A rumbling sound grew louder as the girls looked to see black fighter jets lift from behind the buildings and swarm overhead.

The streets went into chaos as troops and ships began to attack. Among the screeching and shooting came a gurgling, creepy low laugh. It echoed loud, long and clear through the town.

Out of nowhere, a huge face appeared in the sky. Its eyes were yellow and hungry. A monkey-like snout and pair of ears framed the face, and a strong jaw portrayed dirty rotten teeth. The top of the head bore white tuffs of hair.

While there was no neck or torso to speak of, two large wrinkly hands waved in proportion to the head. In the palm of each hand struck a glistening prong.

As the head laughed menacingly, the girls squat down behind the railing of the roof. Gwen panted nervously. "Oh, my God…that thing is fucking ugly!"

"I think 'that thing' is Andross!" Lucy said.

"You think we've upset him?" Monica whimpered.

With a swing of one hand, Andross made some buildings crumble to the ground. People screamed in panic, scrambling this way and that to elude the troops, jets and Andross himself.

"Yes, Monica, we've upset him," Lucy answered.

Gwen squealed, "Our families are down there somewhere!"

Lucy gulped. "Then we gotta go find them!"

With another wave of his hand, and choked laughter, Andross sent the club crashing to the ground, the girls screaming as the collided with the rubble.

A heavy cloud of dust began to settled around them. Through the coughing and hacking, it was a miracle the girls had landed on top of the newly-found rubble.

Monica was the first to stand up. "Gwen! Oh, God, Gwen, please don't have a miscarriage!"

"I'm fine!" Gwen called back, gathering herself up. "Luc'?"

"Right here," Lucy replied with a cough. "Blech, wow…dusty."

"Let's roll," Gwen said, already beginning to climb over the debris. Lucy followed en suit.

Monica stood and watched them. "Wait!"

They stopped and whirled around to look at her.

"Uh…" Monica stammered. "Listen: if anything happens…I'm sorry I got y'all into this."

Lucy came climbing back toward her.

"And…" Monica went on, "I love you guys, and I'm just…really sorry."

"Monica," Lucy said, "you have nothing to apologize for. I wanted to come – I did. I will never regret leaving with you."

"Me neither," Gwen said, joining the group. "I mean, no matter what happens, we still love you."

"We know you'd've done the same for us," Lucy nodded.

"In a heartbeat," Monica smiled.

The shooting of guns nearby brought them back to reality.

"Okay, just _be careful_," Monica said earnestly. "I'm going to find Lily Sue."

"Watch yourself, Mon," Lucy warned as she and Gwen scurried in the opposite direction.

"Kick some ASS!" Gwen half-laughed, jogging behind Lucy. She flipped her hair in a saucy way.

Monica watched as the raven and the redhead took off down the streets, then pointed herself in the direction of Lily Sue's cottage.


	26. Chapter 26

Monica had not gone far into the woods when she heard an explosion from above and behind. She whirled around to see fire erupt in Andross's hand. By the agonizing reaction, the bomb evidently had not been his…

A Star Fox Arwing confronted Andross in the air. The other three came to back him up.

Monica watched with glee as a ship she recognized as Bill Grey's sweep through the air, accompanied by his Husky and Bulldog Units.

Now even more determined, Monica hurried through the dead woods until she found Lily Sue's ram shackled cottage. She barged in hollering, "Lily Sue?"

Through the dark, the inside of Lily Sue's cottage was still intact, as far as Monica could tell. A still silence was bestowed upon her arrival.

"Lily Sue? It's me, Monica…"

"Monnie?" said a hoarse voice.

"Where are you?" Monica walked in the direction of her godmother's bedroom.

"Right here," Lily Sue replied. She was perched up in bed, smiling.

Monica rushed to her and threw her arms around Lily Sue's small neck. "Are you okay?"

"Just a teensy bit sick," Lily Sue croaked. "I've been listening to the commotion in town…"

"It's Andross," Monica said. "The town's under siege."

"Where are Lavern and Gladys?"

"Lucy and Gwen, Lily Sue," Monica corrected. "They're finding their families. Everyone's under arrest…thank God they never came here."

"Oh, they did, honey but I hid," the old lady smiled.

"I think everything's going to be okay now," Monica said. "Star Fox and the Cornerian Army is here, fighting Andross. I mean sure, rebuilding the city is going to suck but…hopefully we will survive this."

Lily Sue gazed at Monica. "You look so much like your mother."

Taken aback by her comment, Monica said, "Well, thank you."

Lily Sue just kept looking at her. "Keep on keepin' on, Monnie."

Monica nodded. "I will…my friends need me. When I come back, I'll tell you all about Corneria, okay?"

"Lovely," wheezed Lily Sue.

Monica gave a quick nod and quickly left the cottage.

She was not even two feet out the front door when it hit her.

A sudden sharp pain nailed Monica in her right shoulder. She left out a choked, gagging sound as she fell to her knees outside of her godmother's cottage. Her left hand flew up to the stinging sensation erupting from her shoulder – she found blood.

Monica gasped for air, feeling the red substance greet her fingers and trickled down to her elbow.

Eyes swelling with tears, Monica raised her head to see the troop still aiming his blaster at her. He inched toward her. There were three more behind him, creeping her way, bearing arms.

Monica felt her limbs failing her. She had to fall. _Fall, just lay down…_

Except, another gunshot pierced the air before she could hit the ground. This time, she was not the target. It did not come from her predators, who spun around in confusion – all but one; he collapsed to the ground, dead.

The shooter was Falco.

He was sprinting, killing off the other two as they attempted to shoot him.

Monica's enemy was behind her, using her as a shield.

Falco did not need his gun. He chucked it at the troop's head, and the troop let out a rough "Argh!" as he charged at Falco.

The falcon whipped his leg in the air, driving his foot into his opponent's chest. When he was on the flat of his back, Falco removed a knife from his belt.

Monica did not see the last part; she had finally surrendered to the grass. All she heard was a quick slice, a strangled scream, then silence.

Falco returned his bloody knife to its sheath, then stooped down to pick up Monica.

She shivered in his arms as he carried her off.

"Just do me a favor," he told her, "don't die."

Monica could only groan in reply.

The fighting grew louder as Falco approached the streets. More screams, more blasts, more casualties. More tears, more wounds, more broken hearts.

From what Monica could see through her blurry vision, nothing in town was standing – including many people. In fact, there was no town, just ashes and rubble and bodies.

In the air, though, Fox's Arwing was not giving up. He had destroyed both of Andross's hands, and torn off most of his face to reveal a horrific skeleton. Fox's ship looked badly damaged, but he was not going down without a fight.

"Monica!" Peppy's head appeared above her. "Can you hear me?"

"Oh, my God!" Gwen exclaimed, revealing a face full of scratches and dirt. Her lower lip was swollen. Her stolen uniform was torn and her hair was a mess.

"Oh, shit…" Lucy breathed with a worried expression. A stream of blood was running down the side of her face. Her right eyebrow had been pierced. "Please, Monica, stay with us…"

"I need to get her to Great Fox," Falco said, his voice sounding far away. "It's gonna be okay, Mon…"

Above her friends' heads, Monica watched Fox blow one more bomb at Andross. The ape let out a deathly scream as he exploded, sending a blinding light across the planet.

The shooting settled, blocked out by an outburst of cheering.

Fox's Arwing flew over Monica's vision. It was the last thing she saw before closing her eyes.

….

A whip of red got her attention. It was not blood – it was Gwen's hair.

"Lucy," she whispered. "I think she's waking up."

Lucy leaned over Monica's head. Her face was decorated with stitches, her violet eyes full of concern.

As Monica focused she realized she was in the infirmary aboard Great Fox. Her left arm was outstretched, hooked to an IV that was pumping bags full of donated blood.

A wave of relief washed over her friends as they smiled.

"Thought for a second you were going to leave us," Lucy told Monica.

Gwen pressed her lips together sadly. There was still a swollen lump. "You scared the shit out of us."

"How long was I out?" Monica croaked.

"Not long," Lucy replied. "Through the night. It's almost dawn."

Monica frowned. "Is there a body count yet?"

"Yeah, 347 as of two hours ago," Gwen said. She smiled and took Monica's IV-ed hand. "But we won. Andross is toast. His troops are finito."

"Your families…?" Monica drifted.

"They're fine," Lucy nodded. "And Gretchen's fine. Cameron found her group, too."

"Did you find Lily Sue?" Gwen asked Monica.

"Yeah…she's sick."

Lucy and Gwen exchanged glaces.

Monica asked Gwen, "Did you tell your folks about the baby?"

Gwen squirmed. "No, because I haven't seen Bill yet and…I wanna tell him first. He's out with the guys, congregating and stuff."

Monica managed to widen her eyes. "And Falco…?"

"He's been asking about you all night," Lucy grinned.

"All night?" repeated Monica. "Y'all've been with me all night/"

"Of course," said Lucy. "We couldn't leave Monnie to fight by herself…"

Monica smiled, even as she looked down at her wounded arm, which was in a sling. She closed her eys and said to her friends, "When this is over, I'm heading back to Lily Sue's on my own."

"You don't want us to come?" Lucy asked.

"Naw, it's something I need to do alone."


	27. Chapter 27

A heavy black cloud hovered over the planet that afternoon when Monica walked off of Great Fox. The mothership had parked itself in the vast area surrounding her old cabin home. She walked barefoot, dressed in her familiar black skirt with blue sash, white t-shirt and a blue arm sling. Falco had generously provided his white stray jacket, which was draped across her shoulders. Monica was allowed a hot shower with fluffy towels to dry off with. Her clean dirty-blonde hair had been brushed and was worn down.

The town rested in pieces when Monica came across it. People were laid out – some taken to their final resting place. Mothers wept, children slept. It was dark and quiet.

Monica kept her gaze set ahead of her, fighting the urge to watch human suffering.

Lily Sue was right where Monica left her. Monica crawled onto her bed, propping herself up on a pillow.

Monica told Lily Sue about Corneria. She told her about Katt and Star, and Jaime and Ella, and the people against her race. She talked about the beauty of the city, the jets and the houses, the training she endured at the gym. She discussed the original plan on defeating Andross, the ambush in space, the crashing on Jazeloone. She described the romance between Bill and Gwen, Lucy and Fox, and her mixed feelings for Falco and how it all seemed wrong. Above all, she talked about Lucy and Gwen, and how they stayed by her all night.

"I never knew I'd have friends like that," Monica confessed to her godmother.

"You chose wisely," Lily Sue said quietly.

"I'm nervous for Gwen," Monica went on. "I mean – what if the baby is deformed or something?"

"She was able to get pregnant, wasn't she?" Lily Sue pointed out.

"True," Monica said, rolling onto her back. "But what if she leaves to go be with him?"

"So?"

"After everything we've been through?" cried Monica. "She just leaves?"

"Go with her," Lily Sue said. "Like she did for you."

"Yeah, but…" Monica groaned in frustration. "Ugh, I don't know!"

"You're not a little girl anymore, Monica," Lily said warningly. "Please stop acting this way."

"I'm sick of change."

"Good things are happening to your friends, Monica," Lily Sue said. "Just be happy for them."

Monica looked at her. "It wouldn't bother you if I left again?"

Lily Sue just looked at her. "Go see the backyard."

Monica raised an eyebrow at the old lady, but she got up from the bed and wandered to the living room, where she peered out the back window. She saw Lily Sue's peach tree had a new bounty.

Smiling, Monica went back to her godmother. "You want some fresh peaches?"

Lily Sue's eyes were closed, but she said, "That would be lovely."

Monica went and found the basket under the sink in the kitchen. As she walked by Lily Sue's open door, she called, "I'll be right back."

When she did not get an answer, she retreated to Lily Sue's room. "You okay, Lily Sue?"

Lily Sue grinned, opening her eyes just a little.

Monica ventured into the backyard and spent roughly 20 minutes crawling through the branches of the blossoming peach tree, dropping the plump fruit into her basket on the ground.

When she went back into Lily Sue's cottage, she discovered her godmother's plan.

Monica left the peaches by Lily Sue's bed, kissed her forehead and left the cottage, heading back toward her cabin to inform her friends that Lily Sue had passed away.

Monica did not make it far; one look at the newly-orphaned children on the street was enough to turn her around and bring the basket of peaches to the victims of the invasion.

….

Hard, heavy rain poured down on Monica as she made her way through the woods to her cabin. At the end of the path she stopped to watch her friends.

Through the mist and rain, Monica could make out Lucy outside the cabin's front door. With her was Fox and her family. Riley was shaking Fox's hand. Fox was smiling with apparent relief.

Behind her mother, Zoe and Delaney bickered harmlessly. Their dresses were torn and their black pigtails were askew, but the sisters were too focused on each other.

Lucy's eyes were full of worry as she spoke to her mom. She was talking quickly, elaborating with her hands as she gestured toward Fox, and then Great Fox. Winnie kept her arms folded across her chest as she took in her daughter's words. She frowned, narrowing her eyes every so often.

Fox, done shaking Riley's hand, stood nervously by Lucy until she linked her arm through his. She quit talking and stared hard at Winnie, whose face finally softened. She spoke calmly to Lucy as she reached her arms out to her. Lucy happily obliged. Riley stepped over to pat Fox on the back.

Still standing from the sidelines, Monica turned her attention over to Gwen's family, who had crowded before the docking bay entrance of Great Fox. Gwen's mother Trudy was sobbing with her arms dramatically thrown about her daughter. Her husband Neil kept the two of them in his large embrace. Gwen's younger siblings Allen and twins Jeffrey and Sandy stayed close, gazing up at the older family members.

Monica could make out Trudy's words as she walked by to board the ship.

"I'm not happy with the decision you made," Trudy wailed, "but I still love you."

At the top of the ramp heading into the docking bay, Monica found Bill leaning against the wall, frowning at the family before him.

"What's up?" Monica asked him.

Bill heaved a sigh. "Gwen told me…the news."

"Oh," Monica said. "And?"

Bill shook his head in disbelief. "Just…wow, I guess."

When Monica said nothing, he turned to her and said, "I would do anything for her. I love her…I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I am going to take care of my family."

Monica kindly said, "I hope I can help."

Bill looked back down the ramp. Gwen was beckoning him to come down.

The dog took a deep breath and stepped into the rain.

….

Falco was lying awake on his bed when Monica came in to return his soggy jacket.

"Sorry," she said, holding it out to him.

"It's cool," Falco said, taking it from her as he got up. "How was your godmother?"

"I'm afraid she died," Monica swallowed hard.

Falco gazed at her. "I'm so sorry, Mon."

"It's okay," Monica mumbled, plopping down on his bed and resting her head on his pillow.

"If there's anything I can do…" Falco said, resting a hand on her side and facing her. "Do you want me to get Lucy or Gwen?"

"No, they're meeting with their families," Monica said. "Let them go."

"They'd want to know," Falco protested.

"They will," Monica promised.

She looked him in the eye and said. "I never got to thank you for saving me."

Falco smiled. "You're welcome."

Monica suddenly scooted forward and kissed his beak. "My hero."

Falco took her in his arms. She stayed with him the rest of the evening as he held her, and again the following morning during Lily Sue's funeral.

They buried her under the peach tree, standing in a semi-circle beneath a happy yellow sun. Fox held Lucy's hand and Gwen leaned against Bill. Star, Peppy and Slippy respectfully stood nearby – even Katt joined them. Gretchen and Cameron brought flowers to decorate Lily Sue's grave.

Monica did not cry. She hugged Falco and allowed everyone to leave quietly. Gwen and Lucy lingered behind.

Monica turned to look at her friends when the rest of the crowd had dispersed. Gwen and Lucy stood, dressed in their black skirts (minus the blue sashes) and dark blouses, waiting patiently for her.

"We're really sorry," Gwen said, batting her pretty eyes.

"Whatever you want to do," Lucy nodded, "we'll do it."

Monica just looked at them. "I want you two to be happy, even if that means you leaving."

"Well, we want you to be happy, too," Lucy frowned.

Monica nodded. "I will be." A tear finally escaped her. Her cheeks reddened. "I miss my family like crazy, but I'm always going to. And Lily Sue was right – I have done okay without them. Meeting Star Fox was the scariest, most dangerous…_best_ thing that's ever happened to me."

Gwen nodded. "I could agree with that."

Lucy said, "Me too."

More tears came from Monica. "You guys are awesome…more than you'll ever know."


	28. Chapter 28

"So, how did things go over with the Baron?" Slippy wanted to know as Lucy and Gwen assembled bouquets of flowers on the living room floor of their cabin.

Slippy had explained to the girls that they had been flying toward the planet Venom when they finally received Great Fox's distress signal coming from Jazeloone. By the time they got there, though, the ship had left and was signaling from Tesserone. Immediately upon arrival they began their attack on Andross. Slippy, Peppy and Falco had landed to go find the girls on foot. Falco found Gwen first, who told him the direction of Lily Sue's cottage, where Monica had fled.

Many of the bouquets of flowers were from the citizens of Tesserone, indebted to the girls' participation in the war. Monica, being escorted by Falco, had gone off with half the bouquets to try and brighten the crowding orphanage. It had been four days since Andross's defeat, and the number of missing persons was still growing.

"Everything's cool," Lucy answered Slippy. "He dropped all the charges against Triple-D."

"Speaking of which," Gwen said, removing a card from a bouquet of daffodils. "Check this out…"

Lucy opened the card and read aloud: "'Thanks for everything you've done – you guys rock! Cameron, Kylie and Mindy.' Aw, how sweet…that's a relief."

"She's been hooking back up with Gretchen, too," Gwen said about Cameron. "All's well that ends' well."

Peppy came out of the bathroom, carrying a stuffed trash bag. "Your rooms and bathroom are cleared. I'll just do the study after I dump this."

"Thanks, Peppy," Lucy said. "That helps."

From the laundry room, Fox swore with a hiss as he slammed down the lid of the dryer. He growled in frustration as he came stomping through the kitchen to join Slippy at the table. "I think your washing machine _and_ your dryer are toast."

"Big surprise," Gwen mumbled. "Well, it's not like we're staying anyway."

"You and Bill wanna come back to Corneria?" Slippy asked her.

Gwen nodded. "I can't raise a baby in these living conditions…not happily, at least."

There was a knock on the newly repaired door and Bill led the way in with Star and Katt – the latter wrinkled her nose at the sight of the accommodations (or lack thereof).

Star smiled as she went over to Fox, seating herself on a chair Peppy helped fix earlier that day. "I got ahold of Jaime. She's looking forward to you bringing Lucy home."

Lucy blushed as she suppressed a small laugh. Bill seated himself on the floor between her and Gwen. "What are you girls going to do with all these flowers?"

"Probably give them to my mother," Lucy answered. "Replanting them will keep her worried mind busy…"

"I can't wait to get home," Katt spoke up, lounging on the couch. "I've had enough of tress to last me a lifetime. I'm so sick of nature I could puke. When we get back I intend to live indoors for the remainder of my youth and hire a butler or who can –"

"Katt, come help me in the study," Peppy hollered.

Katt, rolling her eyes, got up and went reluctantly to Peppy's aid.

Fox stretched and yawned in his chair. "Well, it's going on 7…what's everyone's plans for dinner?"

"Monica and Falco are staying in town," Gwen replied. "And Lucy and I are having family dinners one last time…yippee."

"Okay," Fox said, getting up. "Be ready to leave in the morning."

"Yup," Lucy said.

"Is Monica coming?"

Lucy hesitated. "I don't know."

….

"Now, why the hell would I wanna stay here all by myself?" Monica demanded. "Of course I'm going with you!"

It was near midnight and the girls were packing up whatever valuables they had left to go to Corneria. The cabin was practically empty except for the dishes in the kitchen, broken laundry room appliances, and furniture. Lucy handed the deed of the house over to Baron Harte to let him decide what to do with it.

Monica and Falco cleaned out Lily Sue's cottage, and Monica gave the baron the deed to that house as well. Monica took Lily Sue's jewelry, rosaries and pictures. Everything else was donated to the welfare of Tesserone's citizens – including Lily Sue's finances.

"Besides," Monica went on, placing some of Lily Sue's possessions in her bag, "I don't trust Katt with Falco."

"I'm so glad you're coming!" Lucy praised, folding a tank top.

"Yeah," Monica said. "And screw those cousins of his who hate me."

"Bravo," Gwen said, sitting on her suitcase to zip it. "That's the most unforgiving speech you've ever made."

They giggled, pushing their suitcases onto the floor of Gwen's bedroom before collapsing on her mattress. Gwen turned off the light and they all looked up at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers pasted to her ceiling.

"Remember when we first put those stickers up there?" Lucy asked.

"Two years ago," Monica said. "Our first night here."

"And I fell off the bed doing so," Gwen laughed.

"My dad was like, 'Save Gewn!'" giggled Lucy.

"We didn't have any money…" Monica recalled.

"No parents…" Lucy added.

"No kids…" Gwen put a hand to her stomach.

"Just…us," Lucy said.

Monica chuckled. "Good times."

"Yeah," her friends mooed.

Monica was quiet for a moment. She snuggled under Gwen's quilt, feeling Lucy's leg against her foot and Gwen's back against her capable arm.

"Night, y'all," Monica said.

"Night," they responded.

They stayed like that all night, until hours later when Star Fox woke them up to leave for Corneria.


	29. Chapter 29

The girls previously left Corneria as outcasts.

They returned as equals.

Gwen and Bill eloped three months after leaving Tesserone. Gwen changed her name to Gwen Margo-Grey. She gave birth to their daughter as they moved into Bill's home, stationed on Kantina. Their daughter was human – and even had red hair like Gwen. They named her Tessa in reference to Tesserone. The Grey family commuted frequently between Kantina and Corneria. Bill's parents adored Gwen, and joined her friends in visiting baby Tessa immediately after her birth on Kantina.

Lucy made necessary amendments with her mother, who was not exactly thrilled with the idea of Lucy being a "zoophiliac" – even though Lucy constantly rebuked this. The rest of the Ferns family seemingly liked Fox. Meanwhile, Jaime referred to Lucy as her "other big sister," a name Lucy greeted with open arms.

The McClouds invested in the boarding house to live in while not on assignment, along with the rest of the Star Fox team, plus Katt, Bill, Star and Monica.

Monica and Falco frequently returned to Tesserone to visit the orphanage. Gretchen and Cameron both kept in touch with the girls – as did Baron Harte (whose receptionist Evelyn did, in fact, survive the war).

The girls faced discrimination from various Cornerians who remained uncertain about the human race, but that would be another story…


End file.
